With clear warm waters, beautiful sandy beaches and a super dramatic landscape, a classic holiday to Fuerteventura, the second largest Canary Island, is a tried and true treat.
Often referred to as “the beach of the Canaries”, Fuerteventura’s sandy shores are the stuff of holiday dreams, hooking in holidaymakers in search of coastal bliss and sunshine.
From the never-ending lagoons in Playa de Sotavento to the mountains of Playa de Cofete and the black lava rocks of Playa el Puertito, the island’s shorelines are as breathtaking as they are beautiful.
You may not come to the island to visit Fuerteventura’s many towns, but you’ll leave charmed by their quaint, whitewashed streets.
Spend a day or two exploring the wild olive trees of La Oliva or loosen your purse strings in the markets and malls of Corralejo. For seafood fresh enough to hoy back into the ocean, head south to Gran Tarajal. The island's closest town to Africa boasts an urban Blue Flag beach with eye-catching dark sand.
Want to walk among volcanoes without singeing your eyebrows? Sure, everyone does – and Fuerteventura delivers on this front. Take a gentle 1.5-hour ramble around the scenic Calderon Hondo volcano, or ascend 278 metres to a viewpoint at the top. Our tip? Pack plenty of water!
Elsewhere, Volcán de la Arena may still be active, but most of the action happens underground these days. Check out the lava caves to spot signs of the island's earliest residents – apparently, they left behind pottery pieces and old tools.
Your brain may know you've just stepped off a four-hour flight, but your eyes will tell you that you’ve landed on Mars. Fuerteventura's landscape looks literally out of this world. Think red and black lava rocks, ginormous dunes and plenty of big ol' craters.
To go all Marvin the Martian, hop on a buggy at Corralejo and ride roughshod over the dunes. Nothing says summer holiday like whipping up a volcanic dust cloud.
Best for... A beach holiday on either side of the beautiful British summer ☀️
Go... To Playa Grande for the postcard-perfect Canarian beach day 🌊
You have to... Ride across the Martian dunes in a beach buggy 🏝️
LIVVO Corralejo Beach
4.1
Very Good
Prices from
Hotel Las Marismas de Corralejo
4.5
Excellent
Prices from
Hotel Riu Palace Tres Islas
4.4
Excellent
Prices from
Prices from
£219 ppPrices from
£289 ppPrices from
£239 ppCurrency
Euro
Language
Spanish
Time difference
GMT +1
Cost of a beer
€3
3-course meal
€25 - €30
Flight time
Around 4-5 hrs
Fuerteventura is essentially one huge beach punctuated by lovely towns and epic volcanoes. Its seaside poster child, Playa Grande, provides the tip-top tourist experience you’ve been dreaming of, with plenty of space for your towel and a bar every few steps.
For a more windswept day out, don a wetsuit and hit up El Cotillo. On the island's northwest tip, it's prime for flinging, flying and surfing your way across the waves. Need a quiet lie down? The black sands of Playa de Ajuy provide a quiet, picturesque spot for a seaside snooze.
Fuerteventura is the perfect place to unleash your inner Attenborough, but with kids in tow, you need to guarantee some exciting local wildlife. Head down to Oasis Park where you can meet some roar-some sea lions and count the rings on a lemur.
If your kids are more Evel Knievel than Attenborough, take them to Acua Water Park. With lazy rivers, family race flumes and kamikaze slides, there's something to tucker out the whole gang.
When life gives you wind, windsurf — that's the Fuerteventura way. Savento Lagoon is the place for this thrilling watersport, so sign up for windsurfing school and hit the water. Just make sure someone is poised to snap action pics from the shore!
If meeting marine life is on your holiday agenda, hop on a whale-watching trip from Corralejo or Morro Jable. There's a good chance of a visit from a dolphin or two while you're out there.
Or, for a saunter in the sunshine, take to the trails of Ajuy caves to see fossils and natural blowholes, which erupt with seawater every now and then.
Fuerteventura's ridiculously long beach season means there's never a bad time to hop on a flight. You can sizzle in the sun out here from May until November without so much as a shiver.
Average temperatures of 27C make June to August the sun lover's sweet spot. Or, to take to the trails without sweating your socks off, try January to April.
Although there is little in the way of a low season, you can usually grab a cheap holiday to Fuerteventura in March, April, November and December. And let's face it, a 22C Christmas beats the drizzle back in ole Blighty.