The newest resort in Lanzarote is Playa Blanca , which translates to the white beach and is situated in the South of the island. The resort caters for families but for this article we will focus on what there is to do for couples.

There is a great range of accommodation in Playa Blanca. The sea front is adorned with hotels and complexes from 3 to 5 stars catering for all budgets, for holidaymakers preferring self catering accommodation there are hundreds of self catering villas available, some are individual with their own plots and private swimming pools whilst others are part of a complex.

It’s rumoured to be warmer in the South of the island. Lanzarote’s not that big only 60 km from end to end, we would agree that Playa Blanca can be more sheltered from the prevailing trade winds but there’s not a noticeable difference in the daily temperatures recorded here to the rest of this coastline or other resorts.

Playa Blanca is the furthest resort from Arrecife Airport, our suggestion would be to book car hire for your holiday as you can normally hire a small hatchback for the duration of a week for the price of a taxi / transfer. There is a circular bus service within the resort, the fare is €1 so it’s easy to walk and hop on when you need a lift. There are also frequent bus connections to the resort of Puerto del Carmen and the capital of Arrecife.

This resort does not have a private or local hospital, if you need medical assistance during your holiday then the closest private hospital is based in Puerto del Carmen where you could use your travel insurance, otherwise it’s a trip to the general hospital in Arrecife for emergency treatment. There are private clinics available within Playa Blanca for advice and treatment if you don’t mind to pay or claim on your insurance.

The new marina called Marina Rubicón is a popular place to visit, here you can find a plethora of different style restaurants to tempt you offering all different cuisine from Spanish, Canarian, French, Italian and Indian. If you’re just out for a drink then there’s a  read more »

Lanzarote is fast becoming a popular destination for weddings.

Can you imagine sending beach wedding invitations to your friends and family for a ceremony on this beach in Lanzarote!

The island was marketed as the perfect location for a wedding by Teguise council at the Fitur tourism fair, couples can choose from wedding locations such as the above beach in La Graciosa or Famara beach as well as the castle on Mount Guanapay, the old Santo Domingo convent or the historic Spinola Palace in the old capital La Villa de Teguise.

Lanzarote has a fabulous  read more »

There are two smokehouses in Lanzarote, one in Uga and the other one in Mácher.  They are both easily accessible on main road LZ2, although there are better parking facilities in Mácher. They are also less than 10 minutes apart from each other!

Unfortunately neither of them do tours of the premises or tastings, which is a pity. They are shops set in very nice spots!

The price of the smoked salmon is in both places €32 per kilo.

In Uga the minimum purchase of Salmon is 500g.

In Mácher it's sold in smaller portions, starting at 150g, then 300g & 500g.

Ahumadería de Mácher

It's located just before you exit Mácher on the left hand side of the road as you head towards Yaiza, next to the El Guanche Restaurant.

They also offer a selection of smoked  read more »

I was so looking forward to another Marine Reserve excursion with Lanzarote Active Club ,especially when I heard that pilot whales had been spotted recently.

Persuading a friend to join me for a day out we booked to go on Friday 20th January, it looked to be a perfect day, there were some clouds over the risco but lots of blue sky and sunshine too. The outward leg was choppy which was to be expected, thankfully no one suffered with any sea sickness and before long we were approaching the calmer waters around Alegranza. We spotted the Osprey just off the beautiful rose pink beach, he sat atop the cliffs watching us before circling over the boat. The sea was calm enough for a venture through the sea cave, three braved the water diving in to swim through, the rest of us were ferried in small groups aboard the dinghy. When we visited the stunning cliffs around the corner we were delighted to see two more ospreys in flight making a total of three for the trip.

Leaving Alegranza behind we cruised the sea towards Montaña Clara, last time in this area we had spotted turtles and the Cory’s Shearwaters who have now migrated. Although we were all scouring the horizon and waters around the boat it was Oscar the captain who tooted the ship’s horn and stopped the engines to alert us to something he’d seen. We held our breath and then we saw a pilot whale surface to a gasp of delight from the passengers. We could see  read more »

Travelling to a new holiday destination can be a bit daunting especially if you have young children in your party. We were contacted recently for advice on what there is to do with a three year old when staying in the resort of Puerto del Carmen.

This resort has 8km of golden sandy beaches stretching along the coast, the sea here is generally calm, there are life guards on duty and toilet facilities.

Playa Grande is in the centre of the resort, this beach is very popular, there are rows of sunbeds to get the little ones off the sand with umbrellas for shade but also plenty of open space to make your own camp and erect a beach tent. Swan and beetle shaped pedalos are available for hire within a buoyed area as well as jet ski hire.  Just opposite the beach there are a plethora of shops, bars, cafes and restaurants to tempt you for lunch, lots offer kiddies menus and highchairs to make dining an enjoyable experience.

Around the corner is the smaller beach of Playa Chica, this area of the resort is popular with scuba divers. Our tip is to take some bread with you into the water, the fish will come and nibble at it from your fingers! Parents and older children might enjoy one of the water sports activities available from the harbour here such as parascending, banana boat and jet ski hire.

No-one wants anything to go wrong on holiday but should someone fall ill the private hospital is situated close by on the outskirts of Puerto del Carmen, holidaymakers are treated here as long as they are covered by a foreign travel insurance policy. Travellers without private medical insurance requiring emergency medical treatment can be seen at the general hospital in the capital with their EHIC card and passport identification.

The new promenade area allows for family sized bikes to be hired to  read more »

Having walked Termesana, the shorter of the two free guided walks available from the Timanfaya National Park, I was really looking forward to discovering a part of Lanzarote I hadn’t discovered yet on the Coastal Route.

Miguel accompanied me on this walk, we couldn’t believe our luck with the weather, the day dawned clear, sunny and the wind had swung around to the East so it was perfect weather for exploring the West coast in mid December. Disappointingly a number of walkers were no shows at the 8.30am rendezvous in the Timanfaya Visitor Centre which meant we had only one group of eight walkers rather than double this number, Cristina was going to be our guide, we were a mixed group of Spanish, French, German and British who all understood English.

Cristina loaded us up into one of the park’s mini buses and we made our way towards El Golfo before taking a dirt track down towards the coast which became private park area with a barrier preventing non authorised vehicles from entering. Normally two groups set out one from each end of the path, meeting in the middle to exchange keys to the vehicles, as there was only one group another guide collected the vehicle from the start point and delivered it to the finish point.

First we were given a quick look at Playa del Paso, a small black beach where nests from Pardelas and Cory’s Shearwaters were evident by the bird poop marking the entrance to holes in the cliff face. Leaving the bus we gathered at the start of the path for our walk, we were given a really good tip by our guide, she told us to walk by digging our heels down first which would help with our balance along the rough lava stones. The path only allows for the group to walk in single file, it’s a bit of a shame as you really want to look around but need to be cautious as it’s easy to trip if you’re not looking where you’re putting your feet. Someone has had the back breaking work of creating this path along the coast, it is marked out by low lava rock walls for the entire 9km!

Cristina explained that the island expanded by 1km in this area with the six year eruption from Timanfaya, they know this because  read more »

Our visitors often enjoy watching the planes come in to land and take off at Arrecife airport in Lanzarote, I walked along the promenade between Matagorda and Playa Honda this week for a touch of plane spotting.

It was a Thursday morning so the start of one of the busiest days for the ACE airport. All along this end of the promenade people stopped walking and cycling to watch the planes as they were coming and going.

The best spot is  read more »