Surfing for beginners in Fuerteventura (II): Where to

Learn the best spots where to start surfing in Fuerteventura

In the previous post, we learnt how to move the first steps in the surfing world. Now we’re going to learn where to move them!
Fuerteventura has got dozens of great surfing spots, but not all of them are good for someone who’s just starting. Before getting more acquainted with this great aquatic sport, find and choose a spot that is gentle with beginner surfers, especially if you’re not joining a school.

BEST CONDITIONS FOR BEGINNER SURFERS

Before getting to the list of best surfing spots, let’s have a quick look at what makes these spots ideal, i.e. what are the best conditions for beginners.

Ideally, we would like a sandy bottom beach with a gentle slope towards the shoreline, allowing for “whitewater” conditions. Also known as “the soup”, whitewater is what’s left of a broken wave that the swell continues pushing toward shore. Whitewater on a beach break is what you’re looking for the very first days of your surfing experience.
The whitewater is indeed the safest space for a beginner, a training ground for finding one’s balance on the surfboard, and for more advanced maneuvers too.

We also want an offshore wind (from the Coast to the Ocean) and possibly not too strong, and waves that are under 1m high.

It’s not always possible to find these conditions all together, but we can get pretty close in some spots on our island.

BEST SPOTS FOR WANNA-BE SURFERS

Here are the most popular surfing spots for beginners in Fuerteventura:

– Piedra Playa, in El Cotillo (North-West coast): easy to get to, just a short drive on unpaved road. You can park the car above the hill and get down easily with your equipment. It’s very popular: a lot of surfing schools and amateur surfers go there everyday, but the beach is long enough for everybody. This is a great spot to start learning with whitewaters.

– Punta Blanca (North Coast): a bit more difficult to get to, a good 3km of a rather challenging unpaved road from the Toston Lighthouse in El Cotillo. It works in any tide and generates both right hand and left hand waves. You have to paddle quite a lot to get to the lineup, but it’s easy to get there thanks to a wide channel where the waters remain calm. It works best in spring and autumn.

– Entubadera (North-East Coast): situated on the long stretch of coast that runs parallel to the Dunes National Park, it’s very popular with waves all year long. With low tide, the conditions are ideal for beginners.

– El Moro (North- East Coast): 3-4km south of Entubadera, it offers easy access and parking. It’s a perfect place to learn how to surf, with sandy sea bottom and left hand and right hand short waves. The current can be strong, though, and as always it is better to check the conditions before going.

– Playa Blanca (East Coast). Moving a bit South, just to the side of the island’s capital Puerto del Rosario, this beach is suitable for beginners, who can practice with ease thanks to long foams breaking into the shore.

– Finally, in the South of the island, two ever-green spots such as Costa Calma (South-East coast) and La Pared (South-West coast) can offer very good conditions for beginners.

We’ve seen that some of these spots are good in specific water or tide conditions (or even seasons), but are not recommended in different ones. Current is an additional point to take into consideration when choosing where to go. The best way to make your choice is to check surfer apps, as we mentioned in our last post. Once you’ll get familiar with them, they’ll become your best friend on the island 😉

BEFORE SURFING: WARM UP!

You’re about ready to go and surf. Only the last recommendation before you jump in the water: warm up! Surfing is not different from any other sport: warm up is just as important. A good surfing warm-up should last between 4-8 minutes depending on the duration of the session.
You should start with joint mobility exercises, i.e. moving and turning your neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees, ankles. Then you should go on with a soft cardio exercise for the whole body, i.e. light jogging. Finally you should focus on some more specific exercises to activate the muscles, such as push-aps, squats, lunges. Very light stretching can also be done, but it’s better to leave the big part of it for after a surf, to bring your muscles back to normal.

WHERE TO STAY

Now that you’re ready to surf, where should you stay for a better surfing experience? As we have seen, there’s no doubt that in the North of the island you’ll have more surfing spots at a throw-stone distance: Corralejo, El Cotillo, Lajares are just a few kilometers away from the exceptional surfing spots for beginners we mentioned above. Our CocoSurfhouse is in Corralejo, come and stay with us!