La Palma Tourism Board

Why Choose Our Destination?

The main reason why the island enjoys such exceptionally clear sky quality is its location near the Equator but far away from the influence of tropical storms. Its longitude is between 17º43’42’’ and 18º00’15’’ west, and its latitude is between 28º25’74’’ and 28º51’15’’ north, which allows observation of the Northern Hesmiphere and part of the Southern Hemisphere. La Palma lies within the trade winds. As these winds hit the island, they're forced upwards, and between 1,200-1,600 m they hit the thermal inversion layer, and form a sea of clouds. Above this, the atmosphere is clean and there is very little turbulence. High clouds are rare as the sea of clouds traps most pollution from reaching this area. Bad weather, such as squalls approaching from the Atlantic or fine dust from the Sahara, occurs so rarely that they scarcely affect the number of nights suitable for the astrophysical observation.