"Where the Sun always shines"
After the long winter months it is always nice to get away for some winter sun. One of the best places to enjoy winter sun in Europe is the Spanish Canary Islands. We decided to visit the less touristy and quieter Island of Fuerteventura.
When doing our research we were sold on the many beautiful beaches, turquiose water and dramatic volcanic landscape.
We planned to stay in the south of the Island as we felt we would have better access to the more remote areas that we wanted to explore.
Iberostar Hotels were kind enough to host us during our stay on the island. They have 3 hotels and we were lucky enough to experience two of those hotels.
After we arrived on the island and collected our bags we went to pick up our rental car. The rental car of choice on the island was the small Fiat Panda. It wasn’t very fast and was terrible climbing the mountain roads but we ended up really liking it. It was also very economical which we really liked.
We were up extremely early in the morning and by the time we had arrived at the hotel we were very tired. We checked in and headed straight to lunch. The buffet was amazing and the choice of food was incredible. We spent the rest of afternoon strolling along the beach and relaxing by the pool. We had a reservation booked at the hotels Japanese restaurant that evening which we were really excited for.
The food at the restaurant was incredible and the best sushi we’ve ever had. It was fun watching the chef prepare and cook everything. He also experimented with catching games, he would fire cooked pieces of egg at us which we had to try catch in our mouths. Our first day on the island was incredibly fun and we couldn’t wait for our first full day.
The next day we were excited to get up and explore the many different options of breakfast. We could have spent hours there, after rolling away from breakfast we decided that we would walk along the beach all the way to a town called Morro Jable. It was a windy day and we thought it would be the best day to walk along the beach see the Morro Jable lighthouse before coming back for some lunch.
We explored the streets of Morro Jable which were very quiet as everyone else was on the beach front. The views from the top of town above the cliffs over looking the harbour were beautiful.
The next day the wind had died down and and it felt really warm. We spent the day exploring many of the beautiful beaches nearby before having lunch. The beaches that we explored in the morning were all fairly accessible and had lots of people enjoying them.
We knew of a beach under the Jandia mountains on the other side of the island that was harder to get to because of the winding mountain road to get there. This is where we planned to spend the afternoon and early evening. This beach was also one of the reasons we were on the island as it looked absolutely breathtaking.
The drive along the dusty mountain road was spectacular and at times had Hannah gasping as a 4x4 tried to squeeze past us, it was adrenaline fuelling. Our first site of the mountains rolling into the beach didn’t let us down either, it was everything that we had expected and the weather was absolutely perfect for it.
It is one of the best beaches that we have ever been to. It is not a beach for paddling in the water though as the waves off of the Atlantic bring big crashing waves in, there are also strong rip currents and so swimming is strongly discouraged. It is one of the most dramatic beaches we have ever seen and combined with the drive to get there makes it spectacular.
It was such an amazing end to an incredible day and I would highly recommend this beautiful island and incredible beach.
After dinner we watched a little tv before sleeping like babies after our busy day.
When we woke up we packed our bags as we would be checking out of the Iberostar Fuerteventura Palace and then check into the Iberostar Playa Gaviotas. After we had packed and had breakfast we dropped our bags off at reception and headed to the pool in the Star Prestige area. We had several hours before we could check into the hotel. The weather was beautiful and we spent most of the day relaxing by the pool and sipping pina coladas before finally checking in next door.
The entire Iberostar complex is made up of 3 hotels the Fuerteventura Palace where we had spent 3 nights was their recently renovated 5 star adults only hotel and was incredibly beautiful. For the next 2 nights we were checking into the 4 star Playa Gaviotas which was just across from the Palace reception. This was a family hotel which meant that it would obviously be more busy. However Iberostar had given us Star Prestige access for the duration of our stay across the two hotels. Star Prestige gave us access to adult only pools and other benefits like restricted seating in the food halls etc. It made the entire experience just that extra bit special.
After spending most of the day lounging and relaxing by the pools on offer at the hotel we decided to head out for the late afternoon before coming back for dinner.
We went for a walk along one of the beaches a short drive from where we were staying. We watched the kite surfers and walked across shallow parts of the water to raised sand bar type areas. The wind picked up and after flying the drone over the beach and struggling to get it back because of the increasing wind we decided to call it a day.
Our final full day we headed off into the mountains. We wanted to explore the inner parts of the island. It quickly became apparent that it was very barren, dry and beautiful. We were also looking for great new places to run. Most of the roads on this part of the island were new and had to weave their way up and around the mountains. It was perfect to get out and explore from foot. We found some incredible roads and viewpoints looking over the old volcanic landscape.
After exploring the mountains we headed to some traditional little towns, they were so beautiful and looked as though they hadn’t changed for a very long time. We had lunch in a beautiful little place that felt very rustic.
Fuerteventura is an incredible place to explore and we loved the endless hot summer days that the island had to offer, mix that with beautiful mountains and incredible golden beaches with turquoise water and its a winner!