Talk:Masca

Ferry companies and the number of people allowed on the trail

The Masca#By_boat section currently reads:

The rumour is though that some corrupt local gets paid by the ferry company that bring people to Masca, so they considerably reduce the number of people allowed hiking from Masca village. It's probably best not to support this whole scheme—there are sufficient free alternatives on the island compared to the largely overrated Masca.

There seems to be a link missing from the chain of arguments here. The ferry people make money from boating hikers into the gorge to climb up the canon (or the opposite direction). So why would they profit from "some corrupt local" reducing the number of people allowed on the trail? @Ceever: you put it in, could you maybe clarify? El Grafo (talk) 11:31, 8 December 2023 (UTC)

Well, to hike and especially see Masca you apply for a limited amount of permits, and only for Saturday or Sunday. Or you pay top money for the boat, then you can see it whenever you want. Hence, the rumor is that the number of hikers from Masca village is artificially kept low so the boats get more tourists. I have experienced personally how people decided to take the ferry because the hiking from Masca village just seemed too cumbersome to get organised. I guess not many people hike from the boat, but you could.

Does that make sense?

Cheers Ceever (talk) 11:51, 9 December 2023 (UTC)

Not really, no. It sounds like a conspiracy theory somebody came up with after finding out that the big "must do" activity they read about somewhere was not available any longer. IT quickly falls apart once you take a closer look.

The hike down the gorge used to be a "secret tip" that grew way too popular and turned into a "TOP 10 things to do on Tenerife" with dozens of companies offering guided tours. But it's a difficult hike, not a walk in the park, so the boat companies were already taking people to and from the beach so they could ski[p the hike. Those that did not want to walk at all as well as those that walked down and didn't want to go back up.

From what I've heard and read, it got super crowded to the point that is was not enjoyable any more and safety became a concern. So they closed the whole trail down completely for a couple of years. Blaming that on the boat people paying the government does not make any sense. They would lose more tired hikers as customers than they would gain from shuttling beach-goers.

More recently, they have been opening the trail again on weekends, with a permit, down and back up only. If I was a boat company owner, I would be pushing them to open throughout the week and allow me to boat hikers in and out again. El Grafo (talk) 15:23, 12 December 2023 (UTC)