Wild reddish island with amazing beaches, strong wind and super food. Places to visit with eating recommendations

Trip dates: May 24th – 28th, 2024

Let me start by stating that 4 days are definitely not enough to visit Fuerteventura and its beautiful landscapes. Red and gold are the colors of this island, and you will see breathtaking cliffs and soul touching sunsets.

Be also prepared to experience a lot of wind and chill evenings, so an anorak and a hoodie are highly recommended for when the sun goes down. Other than that, temperatures are mild almost all year long, making it my perfect retirement spot.

I traveled there for my birthday with my best girlfriends and we spent 3 full days on the island, staying in a very nice apartment in Puerto del Rosario (the capital).

Day 1: Sotavento, Morro Jable y Cofete

When we asked the apartment host what he would suggest, he didn’t recommend going to the south as it’s a long drive. So, on our first day, we ventured exactly there, to the southest tip of the island. It was a bit more than 1 hour drive from our apartment.

Sotavento de Jandìa

First we explored Playa Sotavento. It’s a really long stream of sand, quite windy but somewhat sheltered. The water was nice and chilly (as I like it…as it’s ocean water, everywhere in the Canaries is quite cold).

We spotted many windsurfers, and we really enjoyed our chill morning in the sun. Being so long, we didn’t encounter a lot of people, so definitely recommended if you’re looking to stay a bit on your own. We didn’t see facilities (but that’s quite common in the Canaries).

Morro Jable

We stopped for lunch at Morro Jable and had a quick stroll. This is the departing point for many cruise tours or water activities.

Playa de Cofete

In the afternoon we drove to Cofete. It had the rocky mountains at the back and open ocean in the front – gosh that was windy! It was so windy that it was almost cold. But the beauty of the wild nature there was unprecedented.

Day 2: Corralejo, La Escalera, El Cotillo

Second day we stayed a bit closer to our base, to have less time driving and more time on the beaches.

Corralejo

How could we miss the famous Dunas de Corralejo? Beautiful whitish sand dunes on the sea? They were so vast we found almost nobody there. Also, the wind was incredibly strong and we felt the sand on the skin like bullets.

We did the classic touristy thing, photoshooting on the dunes and lunch in Corralejo.

For lunch we stopped in a little tapas bar, La Rosa dei Venti in Corralejo. Amazing service and very good food (highlights: the bruschette and the dessert!) Unfortunately, no pictures, but you can find them on google maps.

Playa de la Escalera

We were looking for a beach where we could spend the rest of the afternoon and watch the sunset. We were unsure between la Concha, Playa del Castillo or go directly to El Cotillo. In the end, we decided quite randomly to stop at Playa de la Escalera as having a cliff behind we hoped to be a bit sheltered by the wind.

It was so worthy, the dirt road, the stairs to get down, the risk of getting lost: we were amazed and speechless by the beauty of this beach and how empty it was.

We encountered a kitesurfer and some other group of people, but that was it, we had the whole beach almost all to ourselves.

That’s also where my cover page picture has been taken. The view was breathtaking and the colors, the sounds, everything was perfect.

El Cotillo

To end day 2 we couldn’t miss the paella. So we ventured to El Cotillo to have a tour of the town and taste the paella. We encountered a fellow Italian who moved to Fuerte first to open a gelateria, then to become a tattoo artist.

We had amazing paella and fideuà in Casa de la Paella

Day 3: Betancuria & Ajuy

On our last day, we visited the town of Betancuria in the morning and stopped to eat at Casa del Queso (yes, it’s full of goats here too, I’m stating to wonder whether it’s a typical thing of islands…see my insights on Crete here).

Betancuria

Betancuria is a little town in the inland of Fuerteventura. Founded back in the XV century, it was the historical capital of the Canaries. Today is a tiny village full of small souvenir shops and with nice colonial buildings.

We stopped there for lunch at Casa del Queso, a small no frills tapas bar with an incredible cheesecake with goat cheese.

Playa de Ajuy

After lunch we moved to Playa de Ajuy, a black volcanic sand beach on the western coast not far from Betancuria.

There we took a walk on the cliff with many goats and squirrels nearby. The trail is quite long but pleasant to walk and you get amazing views over the cliff. Definitely recommended, and bring some nuts and grass to feed the squirrels and the goats! 😂

That is all! Please let me know if you have ever visited Fuerte and how you liked it!

Erli

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