Sunny Canaries

Corralejo and Lobos Island

Corralejo is the main tourist resort of the north of the island, it still has village charm along with Its newer attractions.

A host of bars and restaurants, enough for most tastes are located here and there are some late-night venues. The cuisine is very cosmopolitan and ranges from typical Canarian dishes served at pavement cafes to Chinese, Thai and Indian.

For market lovers there is one held on Monday and Friday mornings and for those who just like to shop there are plenty of stores to choose from.

It is a very popular area for independent travelers who want to practice a watersport. Many dive and surf centers have their headquarters here and you can find many surf equipment shops.

Corralejo is a good choice for a holiday if you want the facilities of a town. Although not very large it has most of the amenities and is ideal for families with children. There are plenty of activities for all ages, along with the magnificent beaches which make it a popular choice for holiday makers.

Just outside of the town is a vast area of white sandy beaches and impressive dunes very reminiscent of the Sahara, edged by the crystalline turquoise waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Classified as a Natural Park, this spectacular area contains examples of all the different kinds of landscape to be found on Fuerteventura, beaches, dunes, stony paths, hills and gullies.

The harbour area is a good place to walk, have a drink or simply “people watch.”
Here the main boat trips and diving schools have their kiosks and it is also the point where the ferries to Lanzarote set off. This port still manages to retain its local flavour and you can see many local fishing boats tied up on the wooden jetties. 

La Isla de Lobos

Two kilometers north of Corralejo is the Isla de Lobos, it has an area of 4.6 km². and has been a nature reserve without permanent human population since 1982.

In 1405, Lobos Island served as resupply base for Jean de Béthencourt's conquest of Fuerteventura.  Lobos Island (Wolves Island) was named for the large number of sea wolves, also called monk seals, that once lived there.

The monk seals were the island's only inhabitants when it was discovered by the Spanish conquerors of the Canaries archipelago in the fifteenth century, but with the arrival of man, these animals were hunted on a massive scale by sailors and fishermen who saw them as a source of food, fat and skin. As a result of this hunting, the species eventually became extinct on the island and its presence now is only occasional.

The island is a popular location for day trips for tourists visiting from Fuerteventura who have an interest in flora, fauna and geology.
The island has a geological age of 2 million years, quite a youngster compared with Fuerteventura.
Boats from Corralejo Harbour make the trip to the island several times a day; the island is great for swimming especially the La Concha beach to the left of the jetty.