Every Surfer Has a Shark Story! (Fuerteventura)

Member Name: markw-d

Product:	Fuerteventura
Date:	01/02/02 (4991 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great Weather, Great Surf, Great People

Disadvantages: None

Every surfer has a shark story. I’ve actually got two but they are both pretty tenuous I have to admit. I got the best one, along with a nice macho scar, in my favourite short haul holiday destination, Fuerteventura.

More about the “sharks” later……..

Only 4 hours lying time from the UK, Fuerteventura is the least populated and therefore the least developed of the Spanish Canary Islands. This long and narrow island actually claims to have more goats than people. This in itself means that there are many roadsigns which advise you to watch out for meandering goats, although the eagle eyed tourist will notice that the signs actually depict deers rather than goats. This was because someone in the islands government couldn’t get goat signs and ordered deers instead!

The island has an excellent all year round climate, partly due to it lying just off the North African coast and being a long way towards the tropics. This proximity to Africa also accounts for the quite remarkable vast white sandy beaches which blew in on the trade winds from the Sahara, and the famous northern sand dunes national park which is a simply stunning sight.

From a surfers perspective the Canaries are Europe’s Hawaii and there are good waves to be found on Lanzarote, Tenerife (although many are threatened by coastal development, and on Fuerteventura. Unlike Tenerife and Lanzarote however visiting surfers are still pretty much welcomed on Fuerteventura. It is not unheard of for the baggage handlers at Tenerife and Lanzarote to actually damage incoming surfboards because they don’t want non locals on their waves.

I always take my own board which is an 8 foot mini Malibu, and it costs £20.00 in total for the carriage on the aircraft. It has always arrived with some minor damage though no matter how well it is packed.

The islands capital is Del Rosario and you really do not want to go there as its
just an industrial port near the airport. There are three main tourist resorts on the island, Corralejo, Calletta De Fuste, and Jandia.

Corralejo
Corralejo (pronounced corra lec oh) is the main one for British holidaymakers and is located at he northernmost tip of the island directly opposite the Southernmost tip of neighbouring Lanzarote which lies a short distance across the narrow channel to the north.

The resort itself lies in a natural bay bounded by lava rock reefs and rocky outcrops. These provide some very safe swimming lagoons and small sandy beaches alongside two of the islands surf breaks, “Harbour Left”, and “Rocky Point”.

Harbour Left (or Harbour Wall) is unsurprisingly a left hand wave which breaks over the reef behind the harbour wall. This can be a lovely big and slow peeling wave, and your incentive to ride it well is seeing the razor sharp reef poking up at you through the crystal clear water as you ride it.

Rocky Point again is unsurprisingly a point and its rocky! Beware, this wave which is visible from town is actually a lot bigger than it looks….and it looks big! There is also a powerful current which funnels through between Rocky Point and the small island of Los Lobos, which claims a life every so often.

Accomodation in Corralejo is plentiful and varied. We always go on package holidays there because we go as a family of 4. Hugely recommended is the Dunas Caletta complex which is operated by Thompsons.

This consists of neat and well layed out apartments organised around very nice gardens, sunbathing area and two pools, one large adults pool and a shallow childrens pool. Every apartment either a patio or balcony facing the pool area.

There is also a plunge pool on top of a picturesque pile of lava rocks but they now have to keep this closed because despite the massive signs which tell you not to dive from there into the main pool, British holida
y makers constantly encourage their children to do so with awful potential consequences. (even with it closed off the little brats still climb up the outside under the alcohol soaked gaze of their proud parents!!).

Because it’s a family complex there are all of the things which you would expect including childrens club, night time entertainment, a very well stocked bar with a very flexible happy hour policy and two reasonably priced restaurants.

Also on site there are two good tennis courts and an indoor squash court, a small but well stocked gym, and a small (but not cheap) grocery shop. The local PADI dive school comes around once a week and gives free taster sessions in the pool and then organises proper dives down the coast for those who are interested.

The complex is actually just off the main road into town and the nearest beach is five minutes walk, with the main hustle and bustle of the harbour just ten minutes stoll down the main shopping street.

Price wise we have had family holidays here (2 adults and 2 kids) for about £1200.00 in total for two weeks.

Although this is the main resort Corralejo is far from a Tenerife style party town, although it does have a good selection of bars, and some of the finest sea food restaurants I have ever eaten in. I particularly recommend the Marquesina 2 which overlooks the harbour beach, and whether you have steak or Lobster you will eat like a king and pay like a peasant. Starters, top quality main courses, sweet and a bottle of Sangria (or two) for two adults and two kids will typically cost around £30.00, and they give you the after dinner honey liqueur for nothing.

In terms of the bars they range from local hangouts where the fishermen play cards and argue about nothing in particular, through to the normal seedy little joints run by boys and girls from London, which stock Carling Lager and serve “real chips”.

If you like to go
on holiday and then only eat British fry ups and drink “real” beer there are one or two places where you can do that….although for the life of me I can’t understand why you would want to. One such bar is the Underground (guess what the sign looks like?!!) and this is a good place to watch sporting events as it has loads of T.V’s.

What you can do actually is to watch more live British premiership and cup football than you can in the UK because there are several bars which show it. This drives me mad that over here you only get to watch what big brother SKY lets you, whereas the Canarians get to see loads of our games.

From a shopping perspective Corralejo is brilliant with some great designer clothes shops, and five surf shops.

I recommend “Home Grown” as the surf shop as they are genuinely the nicest people I’ve ever met. I left my driving licence at home on my last visit and therefore couldn’t get to all the surf beaches I would normally want to use. Therefore I booked David from home grown for 3 surfing lessons (about £20) and the two of us spent 3 mornings driving around the best surf breaks in his Land Rover. Good company, local knowledge, and improver tips thrown in……perfect!

The island is tax free so things like electrical goods can be cheap, but beware of the little camera shops which are dotted all over the place, You may think that you have got a bargain however they will rip you off blind and there is not a thing you can about it. Trading standards in the islands are complex and weighted heavily against the consumer. I know from bitter experience!

There is also a scam going around whereby retailers ask for your passport number for “insurance purposes”. Do not under any circumstances give it to them as within 24 hours there will be a North African entering Spain with your passport details.

Known as part of Corralejo, bu
t strictly speaking about 4km out of town on the North East coast is the sand dune area which is as I said before, breath taking. This includes a number of small sandy beaches with reasonably safe bathing and occasional surf. This is however more a location for Windsurfers and the island boast a few world class performers.

The beaches, Tres Islets, and Glass Beach included are all nudist, as are most of the beaches on the island. If conditions are right Glass beach gives you an excellent opportunity to surf naked only 15 metres away from the main airport to resort road…..if that kind of thing appeals to you of course!!

Because its an island and quite windy, over the years people have built little stone constructions to sunbathe in, which look for all the world like the gun emplacements from any one of a million war films. This effect is heightened in a slightly surreal way when these “lobster pots” are occupied by naked Germans who have a habit of running flags up when they are in residence!

There are actually only two buildings in this area, and both are large 4 and 5 star hotels which gained planning permission just before the area was declared a “no building zone”.

Out in the channel between Fuerteventura and Lanzarote is the volcanic island of Los Lobos. Lobos is uninhabited apart from a park warden and a couple of fishermen. You can only get there and land from an official boat (booked in the harbour) but beware once on there you have to stay all day until they come and get you. This means that you either sit on the fly blown beach and bake all day, or you sit in the one restaurant and drink beer at inflated prices all day.

Lobos does however boast an absolutely fantastic point break surfing wave, which you can see breaking from Fuertevetura. This is strictly not a wave for beginners.

Optional trips from Corralejo include a days sailing and snorkelling around the south coast of
Lanzarote on a big Catamaran. I don’t usually like orgainised excursions but we all loved this, it was really good fun and worth the money (about £40.00 for the 4 of us).

There is also of course the Fred Olson ferry across to Lanzarote if you fancy that. I remember one time when Corralejo football team had a cup match with a Lanzarote team and word went out around the resort to support them. The Lanzarote team must have been amazed to see the huge number of visiting Corralejo fans who were wearing England and Scotland football shirts!

Getting around in Corralejo is easy enough as everything is pretty much in walking distance. There are buses out to the dunes and taxis are cheap. If you have no shame whatsoever there is the “Wally Trolley” which is a fun land train, which goes, round the resort.

To get out further a field however you need to hire a car. A Vauxhall Corsa or equivalent will set you back about £80.00 for a week if you shop around and pre book through Holiday Autos or the like. Extras like child seats or roof racks need to be booked in advance as they only have limited stocks, however they are not expensive (about a fiver).

If however you decide to hire one out there, try not to dress like a surfer when you go to get it, as surfers have a reputation for bringing the cars back trashed….or maybe not bringing them back at all!

This is because most of the roads on Fuerteventura once you get off the main highway are like 4x4 test tracks. The conundrum is that most of the good surfing beaches lie at the end of or along these assault courses, hence the wrecked cars.

I will always smile when I remember our last trip when I was out looking for waves with David from the surf shop. We had been fully off road on an alternating deep sand and volcanic track for 10 minutes in his very mean and well prepared Land Rover and as we bounced sideways over the top of yet another sharp ridge we si
ghted a brand new shiny Hertz rental Corsa with 4 guys in it and a pile of surfboards strapped to the roof with bungees, going like a bat out of hell down the same track! Not a good buy second hand that one……

Also if you look at your hire contract you will find that it doesn’t cover tyres (sharp rocks), the north shore track (where all the good surf is), and something called “servicios des crane”. We found out that this means literally the services of a crane, which could be a bit odd.

We found out why however when we pulled into the side of the road at the sand dunes and promptly disappeared up to the wheel-arches in soft sand. STAY WITHIN THE DESIGNATED PARKING AREAS!! Luckily with some “ice cold in Alex” ingenuity and a Spanish trucker we managed to dig the little beast out.

The North Shore track goes all the way from just by the Hotel Bristol Playa, which is an all-inclusive favourite of Brits in Corralejo, to the West coast town of El Cottillo. Along this track are at least ten world-class surf breaks, including “The Bubble” and “Shooting Gallery”.

When the north shore works it is like nothing you have ever seen before, and I can guarantee that if it looks 6 foot from the shore, its at least 8 by the time you get out there. For non surfers that means that it’s a bit like going head to head with a steamroller.

This is where I gained my scar and tenuous shark story a couple of years back.

You see the North Shore is a little beyond my ability, but undeterred I was determined to add it to my repertoire. Leaving the family sitting around the pool, I set out alone down the North Shore track in my little Corsa and after 45 minutes of bone rattling rally driving came to the deserted little village (2 fisherman’s huts) of Machinicos. Feeling somewhat trepidatious I suited up and after climbing down the perilous jagged rock shoreline I p
addled my board out into the swell.

My plan was simple. Catch one good wave so that I could say that I had surfed the
North Shore and then get back in before I killed myself. This went well and after catching a good couple of waves my confidence grew and I decided to paddle across to another breaking wave.

The water here is crystal clear and so when I looked down and saw a lava reef only inches below the bottom of my board, and about to smash it into pieces, I instinctively dropped my knee over the side of the board to cushion the impact. If you are squeamish look away now!

My board went over the reef without damage, unlike my knee, which sustained a 2 inch long gash right down to the bone. Now imagine the scene. I’m 200 metres offshore with a serious wound which is bleeding profusely into the water and ……oh I forgot to say…..this part of the island is where the Hammerhead Sharks live!

I think my paddle time to the shore was probably a world record and the amount of fins in the water behind me varies between none (the truth) and a dozen (bar story).

This left me with the job of stemming the blood flow and “repairing” some of the knee damage, and packing away my board in its bag correctly and then securing it to the roof before driving the 45 minutes to the medical centre in Corralejo.

A tetanus jab, clean up and 16 very neat stitches by a very attractive Swedish lady doctor was the bargain price of £125.00.

A roll of gaffa tape from the hardware shop to wrap around the wound and make it waterproof enough to surf again was £1.50.

Transfer time from the airport is 45 minutes.

El Cotillo
Pronounced Cot eee oh, this is one of my favourite spots on the island. Thirty mins by road from Corralejo, or an hour via the North Shore track, this place looks like a Mexican western filmset. All it needs is tumbleweed blowing down the middle
of the street and people with sombreros and it would be made.

The outskirts of the town on the beaches to the north are rapidly growing smart holiday homes and I predict that this will eventually become the new holiday resort, however the village itself is still very localised.

As you drive in on the main road, instead of turning to the right to the beach, go left as if heading through the southern part of town to the desert. There is a fish restaurant here which has no menu. You simply go into the kitchen and select from one of the massive pans of food which is bubbling away. It is excellent. Recommend the Fish Stew and the canarian potatoes which come with a red spicy sauce.

The beaches here are good and varied,

To the north are safe lagoons, and to the south long sandy beaches and big dramatic waves. To get to the northern ones take a right in the town centre and you will come to them. Take any light refreshments however because there are not a lot of facilities here.

The southern beaches will again require a bit of off roading, but its not half as bad as the North Shore (depending on how far you go). Often you will hardly see another soul on these southern beaches but if you do they will probably be naked.


Calletta De Fuste
Halfway down the island on the eastern coast is the new resort of Caletta De Fuste. This was the first place we ever stayed on the island when we turned up on a late availability.

This is pretty much purpose built so don’t go looking for old back streets with quaint local restaurants and cafes coz there aren’t any!

The resort is however built around a very safe sandy lagoon, which is perfect for swimming and safe bathing. There is however no surf on this part of the island so if you are booking a late availability, pay a little more to find out where you are going.

When we stayed here we hired a car, found Corralejo, and have been t
here ever since.

Transfer time from the airport 15 mins.

Jandia
Jandia is right down at the bottom of the island and again has immense sandy beaches, which really have to be seen to be believed. This is well worth a trip by hire car for the day, but you don’t want to be staying there, as this is almost exclusively a German resort.

Nothing against our European friends of course but they have shops which sell real Gucci Sunglasses and Louis Vuitton bags at the full price as opposed to the good old moody stuff which you can pick up in Corralejo for a fiver. The Germans holiday differently to us in that they happily pay top whack for everything and Jandia is geared up to help them do just that.

Also unsurprisingly as it’s a German resort everything is geared around that language and culture. We had some friends who ended up in a hotel there and were the only Britons in the resort.

Other things to do at this end of the island are Camel Riding and serious nude beach posing.

Apparently Hitler had a house in the vicinity and there was also a U boat base there during the war.

Again this is a great watersports location, with paracending, waterskiing, and world championship Windsurfing, but again no surfing unless weather conditions are just right.

Right at the tip however is Tiger Point. This is a great surfing location and you even get to share it with the islands population of breeding Tiger Sharks……..Nasty!

Betancuria
This is the ancient capital of Fuerteventura and is located in the mountains to the centre of the island. Its worth a day out if you have had too much sun one day and the contrast between the tourist coast is worthwhile.

Be prepared however for an “Italian Job” style road trip in the winding mountain roads.

All in all, we love Fuerteventura. You can pretty much guarantee the weather and we have been there in June, Janu
ary, and October. There is plenty to do without it being Blackpool abroad, the people are really very nice and very nice to the kids as well. At 4 hours the flight time is ok and the airport transfers are reasonable.

Plus if you have ever wanted to stand at the side of the road naked……..now’s your chance!

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