I took a walk along the front at Playa Las Cucharas recently as I had heard that a couple of the derelict locals at the back of the Barcelo hotel were now occupied.

These locals had been built but never opened, there had been an issue with licensing and most of the owners were also waiting for the renewal of the promenade in this section. This area looks much better now as even the remainder of the unoccupied locals have shuttering making a difference to the asthetics of the whole area.

The locals are frontline, they look out across the bay of Playa Las Cucharas.  read more »

I was out exploring this week and decided to have a closer look at the new promenade connecting the harbour at Los Mármoles to the centre of Arrecife. Work started on the Paseo de Puerto Naos back in April 2009 and was due to take 11 months to complete.

This walk way is really important for cruise ship visitors to the island as they disembark some way from the capital and if walking from the boat there were no footpaths and the route took them through the commercial warehouses which wasn’t pretty or safe.

I couldn’t find any signposts or sign of the footpath from the port  read more »

The resorts of Lanzarote have some fantastic beaches with all facilities but if you fancy a day away from it all I can recommend heading to the NE coast between Punta Mujeres and Orzola.

The narrow road runs through the volcanic scenery heading to the end point of the Island at Orzola.

It is quite wild and rugged with the imposing Volcano “La Corona” which is shaped like a crown on the left and beautiful sea views on the right.

Dotted along the road are designated parking places opposite foot trails leading to rocky fishing spots or beautiful sandy coves. The footpaths are suitably rustic to make you feel you are discovering a secret idyll but easily walked by even young children.

The series of coves become progressively larger in the direction of Orzola with the last bay, Caleton Blanco, having access to park directly on the beach.

Recently we packed a picnic and sunshade and set of for a tranquil day by the sea. The sea is a gorgeous turquoise around this coast line and the sand is a pure white colour and very fine. Although there were other people on the beach it’s rarely crowded here and it was very peaceful to beach comb interesting bits of driftwood and simply watch the tide crashing in on the rocky coastline. There are loads of rock pools for exploring and natural small tide pools which are fun for paddling.  read more »

Graciosa Sail normally have three different catamaran excursions to the island of La Graciosa, for Sunday the 12th September they have something a little bit different!

The beautiful luxury catamaran will be sailing from La Graciosa to the island of Alegranza situated on the Northern tip of Lanzarote. Alegranza is situated within the Chinijo Archipelago which is a protected area so permission is required for a visit to this island.

The day includes:

Transport from the resorts in Lanzarote (if required)

Return Ferry from Orzola to La Graciosa

Catamaran from La Graciosa to Alegranza

Transfer from the Catamaran through the sea cave to the beach

Food and drinks on board the Catamaran

All of the above is available for €59 per person  read more »

Playa Quemada is reminiscent of what Lanzarote would have been like before tourism. It’s a small seaside village where the residents are outnumbered by the goats that roam the hillsides. Situated at the foot of the mountains that are the Monumento Natural de Los Ajaches the village of Playa Quemada is nestled on the coast between Puerto Calero and the Punta de Papagayo.

The village has a very laid back and Spanish feel to it. On the morning I visited families were sitting outside their houses, some fishing from the beach and others cooling off with a swim before the heat of the day kicked in and siesta time began.

There are three restaurants in Playa Quemada, two of them are right on the sea front, these are the Restaurante Playa Quemada and Restaurante Salmarina.  read more »

We were invited by David from Activity Adventures to join in with some of his clients on a walk to the water tunnel during the first week of August. In 10 years of living in Lanzarote I haven’t heard anyone mention a water tunnel before? We were intrigued and not knowing quite what to expect we set off to meet David in Famara.

We jumped in David’s jeep “Anibal” and followed the dirt track around the back of the bungalows to the section of beach allocated to kite surfing. We set off along an uphill track affording us some lovely views back to Famara and over the sea to La Graciosa.

I’m going to be deliberately a bit vague now as this place is a little bit special and quite off the beaten track  read more »

We took advantage of having family over at the weekend to hop aboard with Graciosa Sail for their new excursion “Pirates of La Graciosa”. As we live in the North we declined the offer of a free transfer from the resorts and met the rest of the party at the harbour in Órzola. We boarded the special ferry bound for the island of La Graciosa where the children had to think of their special pirate name and we were offered cubre libre (rum & coke) sweeties.

When we reached the island of La Graciosa we went to find Captain Oggy who had been working hard over the past few days to get the pirate boat finished but when we found him, he was asleep and the boat wasn’t ready!

Captain Oggy had a plan, he gathered his pirates and explained that they were going to steal a boat to go and find One Eyed Willy’s treasure. The kids followed Oggy around the harbour of Caleta de Sebo to a lovely catamaran and charged aboard taking the crew by surprise.

The catamaran set sail for Gold Mountain, the pirates were gathered together to make their pirate bandanas and had their faces painted with eye patches, scars and beards.

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This walk is a toughie but worth it! When you visit the Mirador del Río at the Northern tip of Lanzarote, there is a stunning view from the Risco down over the Río to the island of La Graciosa. If you look down you will see a beautiful sandy beach called the Playa del Risco and next to it the pink ruins of the Salinas del Risco.

The photos above were taken on an earlier visit to the Mirador del Río to watch the sunset.

To find the start of the walk first drive to the Mirador del Río close to the village of Ye. Take the narrow coast road to the left of the viewpoint, follow this along keeping your eyes on the road and not on the view! When the road turns away from the cliff top after a couple of corners look for the opening to the car park on your right, there is a large upright grey stone and the road is paved with flagstones of lava rock, the rural hotel Finca La Corona is on the left. Follow this track around to the car park.

 read more »