#Fuerteventura

My son James had some holiday allocation to use up before it expired at the end of March. Over time we have been to the Canaries most years as a good value place to find out of season sun. We always approach it in the same way - a week all inclusive. Unashamedly pool side and chill (and people watch lol!). Very few decisions to make once we are here.

I have always avoided Fuerteventura as a choice. Why? I had it in my head it is a windy place. Unless you are sailing or using some sort of board it is probably not ideal. Anyway despite that I decided we should finally give it a go as it is nice to go somewhere new - and here we are.

The SBH Hotel we are at is at Jandia (Moro Jable)- the far south and over an hours shuttle ride from the airport. As we arrived in the daylight we had a pretty good opportunity to see the lie of the land on our journey to Hotel Maxorata Resort. Thoughts driving down - as all Canary islands Fuerteventura is of volcanic origin - but looked particularly arid - much moon like perhaps with lots of undulating hills/mountains rising from the coast and plenty of open space.

On size - it is of interest to compare Fuerteventura with our island the Isle of Wight. Fuerteventura in area terms is surprisingly big 640.8 sq miles compared to the 148.3 of the IOW. On population - figures are perhaps similar - maybe even smaller on Fuerteventura although tourist season is longer and numbers probably heavier on Fuerteventura. There is much more open space on Fuerteventura but much of the land mass is arid rock and uninhabitable. 

As it turns out Fuerteventura is a windy place and it is definitely arid too. After a bit of research the explanation is simple enough :

Fuerteventura is the second largest of the Canary islands and the oldest geologically. It is the nearest island to Africa (62 miles). Despite the impression it is very hilly in reality it is a low lying island in a massive sea with the hot Sahara Desert on its relative doorstep. Cold water - hot land mass - low lying and on the NE Trade winds - there is plenty of air moving around.

However the wind can be very beneficial - it keeps the island temperatures to a comfortable level in potentially very hot summers. The wind was a non issue for us. I think most hotels have appropriate screening and wind breaks and on a otherwise very hot day it can be a godsend for sure.

On aridity - the relatively low lying nature of Fuerteventura means clouds pass over rather than drop as rain. Fuerteventura only has 6 inches of rain a year so it is arid because very little of the water is retained by the volcanic rock. The problem has been exacerbated by the historic over grazing of goats and deforestation. The island therefore has very little vegetation and does typically look like a moonscape (often a beautiful one - amazing colours and changing shadow patterns). I am perhaps making Fuerteventura sound a bit bleak. In many ways it is not. It probably has the longest sandiest beaches in the Canaries and the seacapes are fantastic.

The supply of water is therefore an issue for Fuerteventura and the problem is exacerbated by the tourist trade that uses twice as much water as the local population (swimming pools. watering hotel gardens and washing towels etc. There are many electric powered desalination plants.

Would we go again? Yes definitely. I think it is a good value place as perhaps less on the tourist map than some of the other Canary Islands. Think about transfer times though. The airport is central - the two principal holiday areas - north and south of an elongated island. Not a major party scene in the south (if that is what you want) but more so in the north I understand. I am sure would be brilliant for board sports (providing you know what you are doing!)

On all inclusive I guess there is a tendency to get full value - and probably eat and drink more than normal - but it doesn't have to be like that. It is certainly possible to make healthy food choices and combined with say regular swimming - the odd jog (James did 4 I think) and the occasional exercise class, walk or bike ride - the whole package is a good choice for a week I think. It is also fascinating to people watch because despite being a big hotel you begin to recognise people and their habits over a week - ha! James doesn't miss much lol!

Some holiday snaps :

Typical evening entertainment

Typical inland arid moonlike landscape

Our hotel

a useful rip tide diagram from the beach

Typical sand and volcanic rock

James - weighing it up - king of Jenga

Storm coming - a very light shower and it blew away in no time!

EFFECT OF COVID

Just a quick few thoughts about the impact of covid on the tourist trade. While we were away James referred to a headline article about how many holiday businesses had gone out of business on the Spanish Costas because of Covid. We were subject to a last minute change of hotel here. Our hotel was part of a group and they consolidated bookings as they explained covid meant bookings were still not sufficient to make opening all hotels viable. Our actual booking cost of approx £50 day/night each which offered stunning value I think ie a nice room - daily maid service - balcony and sea view - all inclusive food and drink of a good standard and variety etc just shows how hard they are competing. On one day I wanted to hire a car. I tried - nothing available - apparently so many firms no longer exist. 

Some more background info on Fuerteventura:

Fuerteventura has 119,732 inhabitants (as of 2020), the fourth largest population of the Canary Islands and the third of the Province. At 1,660 square kilometres (640 sq mi), it is the second largest of the Canary Islands, after Tenerife' From a geological point of view, Fuerteventura is the oldest island in the archipelago.

It lies at the same latitude as Florida and Mexico and temperatures rarely fall below 18 °C (64 °F) or rise above 32 °C (90 °F). It counts 152 separate beaches along its seaboard — 50 km (31 mi) of white sand and 25 km (16 mi) of black volcanic shingle.

The climate on Fuerteventura is pleasant throughout the year. The island is hence referred to as the island of eternal spring. The sea regulates air temperature, diverting hot Sahara winds away from the island. The island's name in English translates as "strong fortune" or "strong wind", the Spanish word for wind being viento. During the winter months, temperatures average a high of 22 °C (72 °F) and a low of around 15 °C (59 °F), whereas during the summer a mean high of 28 °C (82 °F) and a low of 20 °C (68 °F) can be expected. Precipitation is about 147 mm (6 in) per year, most of which falls in autumn and winter. December is the month with highest rainfall.

A sandstorm known as the Calima (similar to the Sirocco wind, which blows to the North of the Sahara, to Europe) may blow from the Sahara Desert to the Northwest, and can cause high temperatures, low visibility and drying air. Temperatures during this phenomenon rise temporarily by approximately 10 degrees Celsius. The wind brings in fine red dust, The fine white sand is not blown in from Sahara, It is made up of dead coral reef and local seabed upheaval. visibility can drop to between 100 to 200 m (328.08 to 656.17 ft) or even lower, and together with very warm temperatures, it can even bring African locusts to the island.