CanCanaria Adventure Week 2027 offers a different kind of gay week in Gran Canaria, from 25 to 31 January, trading the club for the outdoors. Instead of a single festival, it is an a la carte week of activities on and around the island: hiking, climbing, sailing, surfing, diving and more by day, sociable dinners and themed nights around Playa del Ingles in the evening. You join as much or as little as you like, and build your own programme.
The week is run by CanCanaria, a gay-owned tour company based on the island whose founding partner, Patrick Marmion, built it on genuine local knowledge of Gran Canaria. The first Adventure Week was held in January 2024 and it has returned every January since. The idea is simple: combine an active outdoor holiday with the warmth of a winter sun destination and the easy sociability of the gay scene after dark.
The menu is broad, and nobody is expected to do all of it. The point is to pick what suits you and meet the same faces across the week.
Core activities include hiking, climbing, a via ferrata, sailing, surfing, canyoning, scuba diving and even skydiving, with kayaking, paddleboarding, snorkelling, buggy tours and island tours added around them. There is a fitness and wellbeing strand too, with beach strength sessions, stretching, yoga and sunrise 5km runs for those who want them. Nothing is compulsory and no two people do the same week, which is the whole idea: sign up for a via ferrata one morning and a sailing trip the next, or simply take the sunrise run and spend the afternoon by the pool.
Evenings bring group meals, a sunset barbecue, learn-Spanish afternoons and nightly socials around the bars of the Yumbo Centre. The Buddies Cafe in Playa del Ingles serves as the basecamp for check-ins, and the week’s big daytime social event is the Big Balls Sportswear Pool Party at the Axel Beach Hotel. The crowd is built around the gay community but described as open and inclusive to all. Recommended bases cluster around the hub, from the Sol Barbacan to the Axel Beach, so most participants stay within a short walk of the Buddies Cafe and the evening socials.
The week runs 25 to 31 January 2027, based in Playa del Ingles with activities spread across the whole island. Registration is free through the official site, and individual activities are billed separately by CanCanaria, with a VIP package also available. Recommended bases sit near the hub, from Axel Beach to Sol Barbacan, and Gran Canaria airport is about thirty minutes away. January daytime temperatures in the south of the island are mild, which is the whole point of going then. The first edition was held in January 2024 and it has run every January since, growing into a fixture of the island’s winter calendar.
If you want the detail before you commit, you have already covered this one on Gay Mag: see our full guide to CanCanaria Adventure Week for how the week is put together and what to expect from each activity.
It is the rare gay event that gets you out of the resort and onto the island, mixing real adventure with winter sun and good company. For anyone who finds a week of clubbing too much but still wants the scene in the evening, CanCanaria Adventure Week 2027 is the best of both, and a genuine reason to visit Gran Canaria in January. It suits solo travellers especially well, since the shared activities do the introductions for you.
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