Surfing Waves

Hi All,

Looking to get away somewhere warm for a week at the end of May. Im thinking of the Canaries as the mrs will be fairly happy there and I can sneak off for a couple of days for a surf.

So Ideally I would like a beach break where its nice and steady and some where to hire a board from as I am still only a short way down the path to becoming a proper surfer. Last year I ended up at Cotillo as we were staying in Corralejo, this was superb and somehting similar on one of the other islands would be mint.

So which next, Gran Canaria, Lazarote or Tenerife. We could do with going some where that is within a relatively short bus trip to the town were at.

Any experiences welcome!

Dan

Could somebody please tweet about the Canaries to Dantastic ( sorry too good a chance for a pun).
Honestly have a look at the surf spots here on Surfing Waves or try the Stormrider guides also have a good google around.

I've never been Dan, so cannot help. (although I am thinking about going later this year, subject to $$)

Sorry I only surfing in Fuerteventura and loved so so so so much. Maybe also Lanzarote.. a friend of mine surf there and enjoy very much! Long beaches but a little bit more wild he says.

My favorite destination overall is Tenerife and the best place for surfing on the island is Playa de las Americas.

Cheers peeps!

Hi Dantastic1985
The most similar to El Cotillo is Famara beach on Lanzarote.
Staying in the town, you can reach the beach by walking about 2-3 km.
Take a look at Famara's pictures on Google, if you like El Cotillo, I'm sure you will enjoy this place too.

Famara is pretty much the only obvious place in Lanzarote, though I believe that there are some big waves (the Slab?) further south, that break onto mainly rocks - it's at La Santa (where there is the sports training place, see below). I think there are a couple of surf hire places at La Santa village itself.

Famara is on the west coast of Lanzarote, probably no more than a 15-20 minute drive (easy roads - watch out for the mad cyclists from La Santa that train all over Lanzarote!) from Costa Teguise, and about ten minutes drive from Teguise in the centre of the island (not a tourist resort - nice old town).

Famara Beach is basically deserted - it's the 'bowl' I guess of what was an ancient caldera, whose remaining side is the massively high cliffs to the north (look out for hanggliders going suicidally off them!). It faces west and gets the Atlantic swell. Great long sandy beach, probably about a mile or so long?? Walk it in about forty minutes end to end? Tide goes in and out quite far. I only know it from Easter time when I'd say the waves are about like Cornwall maybe? 4-6 ft maxish?? No lifeguards ( a guy drowned there recently, not sure of the exact situation, but 'officially' you are not supposed to swim there...)

It's a popular beach for surf schools - the most 'accessible' of which for the Brits is Tim Jones. Obviously in UK school hols you get quite a few families (that's when we went). But it wasn't crowded at Easter by any means. Watch out for kite-surfers skimming along - a few bump and jump wave windsurfers too sometimes. Mostly surfers though, and body boarders.

It's very easy to park along a quiet lane between the dunes, no restrictions that I can remember, and usually plenty of space. I'd say you can see your vehicle from the sea, which can be reassuring re potential breakins (not that I know of any).

There are only two places of habitation anywhere near the beach. The first is the little bunglalow resort near the north end, which is a great place to stay as you can walk straight out onto the beach. It used to have a little restaurant there, not sure if it still is. It has a shop I know for food and stuff. You can hire the bungalows, but the quality is 'variable'...they are privately owned (lot of Germans and Scandies). Fantastic views from all of them I'd say!

The bigger place is Famara Village itself, to the south of the beach (about a five minute walk out on to the sand?) which is a Lanzarotian fishing village. Lots of locals there still, but obviously tourists too - it's 'quaint' an original way - not a great deal of tarting up for the tourists. There are several good restarants/cafes there, and a superercado or two. There are plenty of apartments for rent as well (see Zoco, through whom we booked and they were v. good) - easy to carry boards out down to the beach, you wouldn't need transport (might be tired at the end of the day) (not that we carried ours, as the surf school had transport!). THere are various rental shops in the village, plus through places like Tim Jones. No idea of the range or quality or price, as we just were booked direct with the surf school.

Another possibility might be to actually stay at La Santa itself. It's the 'next cape along' to the south, and there is a passable cut through road which though I wouldn't drive at midnight in winter is fine on summery days - bit narrow and windy and you wouldn't want to break down as a trek to any habitation, but otherwise fine. I'd say you could get from La Santa to Famara in about twenty minutes by car?

The great thing about La Santa is that it is chokka with sports stuff, so if there is no surf you have plenty to keep exercised - it's a place professional teams train at. Loads of bikes, tennis courts, great gym, etc etc. A (genuine!) Olympic sized training pool - ie, 50 m, which has a couple of lanes for the non-clubs that book it. Nice and heated in winter (unlike thefree form massive family pool, on the sun deck, which is beautiful, but was freezing!).

The basic end of the accommodation wasn't expensive as I recall (stayed there on our second visit) - we got a 'mini apartment' - no view, but didn't matter, little enclosed patio that caught enough sun for breakfast - with kitchenette, decent bath/shower, bedroom double bed and living room with double sofa. I seem to remember it cost maybe £100 a night for potentially four people? An onsite supermarket means you can eat in the apartment if you want, or there is a cheap-ish restaurant by the pool (others are more expensive.) Apart from things like private lessons, use of the sports facilities is included (not sure about cycle or raquet hire, you probably have to pay - not our thing so we didn't)(the gym, classes and pool is definitely included)

If the surf is bad but the wind is good (if that happens!) then you could drive across to Costa Teguise where there are some windsurfing hire places to keep you busy.

Thank you for a very comprehensive report Lisa!

I'll second that - welcome to Surfing Waves LisaUK!

Thank you! I'm an imposter here really, as I'm just mostly checking stuff out for my son ...

Cheers, Lisa

Booked in for a week of surf (fingers and toes crossed) in July, staying in Costa Teguise. Got a hire car and will be touring around like a wave hunting loon!

Guys, those with a bit of experience in the canaries, csn I get away with a rashie and board shorts or will I need a 3/2?