Kitesurfing In Fuerteventura
September 24th, 2008At the end of July I was planning a kitesurfing trip abroad with my girlfriend. We did a lot of research mainly based on wind stats, flat water, waves and nightlife. She was learning how to jump and do back-rolls and I was learning back-loop kite-loops, unhooked maneuvers and wave-riding. Eventually we choose Fuerteventura.
Why Go There?
Cheap deals, large open beaches, constant winds, perfect temperatures, some waves in summer and pumping waves in the winter. In my opinion kitesurfing in Fuerteventura is best for the improving, intermediate or advanced kitesurfer due to constantly high blustery winds and waves which can make it a bit of a mission if its your first few days on a kite & board. There are three main areas to kite: Flag beach which is on the north east coast, Cotillo on the north west coast and Sotavento down on the south of the island.
Flag Beach
This is the closest kitesurfing beach to Corralejo (the main tourist town). The wind blows from the left (slightly off shore) and provides good freeride conditions with a flat water section on the inside for tricks. It gets busy so space becomes a problem and for this reason learning new tricks on the inside can be dangerous. Adding to this danger are the reefs that start to poke through at low tide but these seem to help thin out the crowds, sorting the men out from the boys as it were and creating that much needed space to nail those tricks.
There’s a rescue service offered by the Flag Beach Kitesurfing Centre but you have to pre-arrange and pay 30 euros for 2 weeks cover as a minimum. If you don’t and you need rescuing they will sting you for between 30-100 euros for one rescue (rumor has it, but we never did find out for sure).
The rescue service runs until 7 pm and the best sessions I had here were on an evening low tide when the beginners had come off the water.
The wind is less consistent on this side of the island and we only kitesurfed at flag for the first 3 days of our 2 week holiday. If you get to Flag Beach and there’s no wind, rest assured it will still be pumping at Cortillo!
Cotillo
Cotillo, situated on the west coast, is a 20 minute drive from Corralejo. The last bit of the drive is down a dusty, bumpy track that takes you along the top of the cliffs overlooking the 2mile long beach below. There is no rescue cover here unless you’re booked in for instruction with Extreme Holidays or the Quicksilver Kitesurf School (based in Corralejo). Saying that, the wind is cross on shore from the right, meaning its pretty safe and there are plenty of other kitesurfers around to help out if you need. The wind was 20-30 knots almost everyday (in July & August) but is quite blustery due to the cliff on the right. The water is still quite choppy here so it’s not great for full on freestyle but excellent blasting and boosting to be had. You get some good waves here which break close to the shore (sometimes a bit too shore-breaky) but can provide a good introduction to wave riding. When I was there I had a new Airush waveboard which I learned to gybe and wave-ride but by the end of the holiday I was ready to tackle some bigger, longer and more consistent waves. The blustery winds can give you some amazingly floaty jumps with 2 or 3 updrafts which at first you’ll find un-nerving but you soon love to love them! During one of my session Aaron Haldlow Mega-Looped passed me which was nice.
Sotavento
Sotavento plays host to all manor of kitesurfing and windsurfing competitions and during our holiday we were lucky enough to catch some of the world tour action. The wind here howls down through two mountains and blows cross-offshore at about 30-40 knots. There is rescue cover here for 30 euros a rescue or you can arrange it for the week (but I’m not sure how much they charge). There is a kitesurfing and windsurfing centre right on the beach which has a nice beach bar vide to it. You can hire kite here, book lessons or just hangout. It might be a good idea to pre-book to avoid disappointment.
There is an inland lagoon that forms at high tide which would be great for beginners or freestylers alike, but unfortunately we didn’t get to see it working on our day trip due to the tides.
The hotel at Sotavento is quite up-market and I should imagine the prices reflect that. Also there isn’t much else around in the way of restaurants and bars. Planet Kitesurf offer holidays to Sotavento.
Wind, Water, Waves & Seasons
The summer offers the most consistent wind conditions (between April and October). 90% of days, in July and August, have kite-able winds. The air temperature in the summer is 28°C dropping a bit to 22°C during the winter. This is perfect for when your on the water all day, not to hot and not to cold. You’ll need a short wetsuit to stay warm during long sessions. The winter brings more in-consistent winds and bigger more consistent waves. On my trip we planned to surf as well as kitesurf but the waves weren’t great. There were beginner surfers enjoying learning on the white-water but nothing that you could ride for any amount of time. We did surf once at Player La Esquinzo which is a 10 minute drive south of Cortillo. Apparently this is the best place for waves if it is crap anywhere else. I’m sure if we were really keen we could have got up early and found some waves before the wind came up but kitesurfing every day with no let up in the wind left us exhausted and contented anyway.
Nightlife
Corralejo is a proper tourist town, with lots of bars and restaurants for all tastes. There is a main street which is quite cheesy, with British style bars and cliental to match. The nice bars and restaurants are near the harbour area and are reminiscent of most fishing villages you would find in Spain and Greece.
It took a bit of searching for us to find the good places to hang out so make sure you venture past the obvious stuff early.
Getting Around
If your staying in the north a hire car is essential (unless your with a company who provides transport to and from the beaches). You can get one from £80 a week and its best to arrange this in advanced.
Accommodation
We stayed in Club Las Olas, Corralejo, which was a good option for anyone on a budget. It had a few swimming pools and all sorts of facilities (which we never got round to using). If you want something more chilled try accommodation in Cortillo but be warned it gets booked up quickly due to the lack hotels & self catering apartments on offer.
Airports
Puerto del Rosario (FUE) airport is a 30 minutes drive from Corralejo. You can catch a taxi or a bus but I would recommend hiring a car and picking it up at the airport. This saves you the £30 per person (for the transfer) meaning, if two of you are traveling, a hire car will only cost you £20 for the week ontop of what you would have paid for the transfer.
Summary
All in all we had a great time. We kitesurfed until we couldn’t kitesurf any longer, didn’t get ill, didn’t get too sunburnt, had some nice meals, met some nice people and had a bonus surf session. I learnt a bunch of new tricks (even though we could have had more flat water conditions) and had a good introduction to wave-riding. Enjoy!
Written by Ben Simon
