After quite a long time, we set off somewhere. To the Canarias, again, but this time to the island of Fuerteventura. I’ve always wanted to try a campervan and this holiday was perfect for it. It was a blast! I can’t even imagine better accommodation. Here is an article about how we spent a week on the island of Fuerteventura in a van…

Place: Spain – Canary Islands – Fuerteventura
Length of stay: 7 days
The date we were there: 24. 3. – 31. 3. 2022
Transport: by plane from Prague
Accommodation: in a rented campervan from Vansandsands ♥ (info about the van is at the end of this article)
Price: about 1060 euro in total for two adults and a one-year-old child (flight tickets 448€ + campervan 570€ + oil 40€)
Visited places: town Puerto del Rosario, beach Playa Esmeralda (near Costa Calma), beach Laguna de Sotavento, town Solana Mattoral, mountain Pico de la Zarza, town Morro Jable (with a lighthouse), beach Cofete, peninsula El Islote, town Caleta de Fuste (with natural pools), beach Playa del Castillo, national park Corralejo (with sand dunes), beach La Entubadera, island Isla de Lobos

The map

Video

Day 1

Plan for this day: the capital city Puerto del Rosario → Costa Calma (parking by Playa Esmeralda)

PUERTO DEL ROSARIO

We were picked up at the airport by a guy with our rented campervan (I’m writing about the van at the end of this article). He took us to the capital city of Puerto del Rosario, where we did some paperwork. Then we went to the beach Playa Chica. It was nice and there were a lot of chipmunks (like almost everywhere at Fuerteventura). We went to have lunch at El Mirador restaurant and it was totally delicious, I can only recommend it. When we were leaving the city, we went to the supermarket Mercadona (it’s said to be the cheapest shop for food and all the necessary stuff).

PARKING BY PLAYA ESMERALDA

We arrived with our really cool vehicle to the parking by beach Playa Esmeralda near the town of Costa Calma. It was a good place to spend the night and the view from the parking was breathtaking. We didn’t have much time to enjoy the beach, so we decided to go there in the morning.

Day 2

Plan for this day: Costa Calma (Playa Esmeralda) → Laguna de Sotavento (Playa de la Barca) → Solana Mattorral (parking)

BEACH PLAYA ESMERALDA

We spent the first half of this day on the beach called Playa Esmeralda and it was amazing. There is really smooth sand and crystal clear water (well, like on every other beach on Fuerte which we visited). We enjoyed the place a lot and then we went to Laguna de Sotavento.

LAGUNA DE SOTAVENTO

Laguna de Sotavento is a three kilometers long lagoon, beautiful especially when it’s low tide. You can check the tide times HERE. When we were there, it was heavily windy, so we didn’t really want to go through the entire beach. We stayed on Playa de la Barca beach. This lagoon is one of Fuerte’s “must see places”, but thanks to its great size, the place is not overcrowded at all. It has to be very nice to walk there in sunny weather.

SOLANA MATTORAL

Solana Mattoral is a small town near the bigger Morro Jable. We moved there in the evening, to the parking under a big hill, where Martin planned to go the next day. It was dark when we arrived and I’ve got to say that there was one of the most breathtaking views I’ve ever seen. We saw light from the nearby city and there was a working lighthouse. I love lighthouses so it was a great experience for me.

Day 3

Plan for this day: Pico de la Zarza (trek) → Lighthouse in Morro Jable → Cofete (parking on the beach)

PICO DE LA ZARZA

Early in the morning, Martin woke up and set off to the hill called Zarza. It’s about 6 km to the top and 6 km back. He was walking for 5 hours. There was a view to Cofete beach where we planned to go. Since he start walking at night, he saw the rising sun and according to the photos, it was beautiful. He said it was a nice walk. I and our son didn’t go, we went shopping instead. I’d really love to go, but I’m pregnant and our son is too small for these trips, so it wasn’t very attractive for us.

THE LIGHTHOUSE IN MORRO JABLE

In Morro Jable there is a really cool lighthouse. There is a nice wooden pathway leading to the tower and it continues to the beach and to the restaurant (we had lunch here and it was quite tasty). The beach is perfect, we liked it so much that we wanted to go back the next day.

COFETE

In the afternoon we moved to Cofete. The roads was interesting. Everywhere else at Fuerte there were asphalt roads but not here. The roads were narrow and I was a bit scared sometimes. Nevertheless, the nature here was magical – it was a wasteland, nobody and nothing was there. After our arrival, we parked our van at the only parking which you can find here, we went to the beach and then to the bed.

Day 4

Plan for this day: El Islote (on Cofete beach) → Morro Jable → Solana Mattorral (parking)

EL ISLOTE

El Islote is a peninsula. You can walk about 3,5 km on virgin beach Cofete and you get there. We took our son to the baby carrier and we set off. The way to the place was pleasant. We found a natural pool here with warm water, we took a bath and watched the crabs sitting on the stones a few meters from us. Our way back was much worse since it was raining a lot for almost the whole time. It was amazing anyway.

MORRO JABLE

In the afternoon we wanted to go back to the beach near the lighthouse in Morro Jable, but it was very windy and a bit cold. Therefore, we just enjoyed the town, visited some restaurants in Morro Jable and went to spend the night to the nearby parking in Solana Mattoral again (there is the parking in the photo 😀 ↑).

Day 5

Plan for this day: Solana Mattorral (parking) → Caleta de Fuste (natural pool)

NATURAL POOL IN CALETA DE FUSTE

The next morning we had pretty bad weather, so we just did some shopping. In the afternoon we went to the town of Caleta de Fuste. We walked the town and went to see the natural pool by the sea. It’s also good to check the tide at this place, you need a low tide (you can check it HERE). When we were there, the weather sucked. however, on our way back to the car, we saw a rainbow and it made me really happy 🙂

Day 6

Plan for this day: Caleta de Fuste (Playa del Castillo) → Corralejo (sand dunes in natural park) → Corralejo (La Entubadera beach)

PLAYA DEL CASTILLO

In the morning we wanted to visit the markets in Caleta, which are there every Tuesday and Saturday. There was nothing and they told us in the tourist info center that it’s closed due to Covid. So we spent the time on the beach Playa del Castillo. We had ice cream, coffee, and drinks in Beach Cafe and I can only recommend this place, we even went back later.

SAND DUNES IN CORRALEJO

Natural park Corralejo is known for its sand dunes. I’ve got to say that this place is truly incredible. It’s like from another planet, you can see nothing here but desert and sand. It definitely worths the visit.

BEACH LA ENTUBADERA

In the evening we went to park our van on a beach. We chose La Entubadera. Since it was quite late, we spent just a few moments on the beach but it was great. There were showers and toilets 🙂

Den 7

Plan for this day: Corralejo (port) → Isla de Lobos (island) → Corralejo (La Entubadera beach)

ISLA DE LOBOS

The next day we moved to the port from where we went by ferry to the island of Lobos. We bought the tickets HERE. It leaves every day at 10 am and goes back at 2 pm or 4 pm. The island is pretty, we had a walk and we enjoyed the beach. We also had lunch on the island, but there is only one restaurant and you must order the lunch an hour in advance. When we went back by the ferry, the waves were high and my stomach didn’t feel very well, so be careful if you have these kinds of problems too :). We spent the night in the same parking as the night before.

The next day we just cleaned the van, returned it, and waited for the plane.

OUR VAN

Now, let me tell you a few words about our van.

WHERE TO RENT IT

We chose the van rental Vansandsands. Firstly, I wanted to rent a van from Venturavan, cause there was a toilet (it wasn’t in our van), but for our date they didn’t have any available. The same problem was with Campercanary. I’ve also found Treevangang, but I didn’t really like it, don’t even know why. The prices were about 60-80 euro per night (or nicer vans for more money of course). I was really happy with Vansandsands rental, they didn’t speak English very well, but everything else was perfect.

WHAT TYPE OF VAN WE HAD

We had Volkswagen T3, it was very old with 700 000 km mileage. When the van was moving, it made terrible sounds, I was afraid that it will fall to pieces, but it didn’t. In the van rental, they have more vans in different colors. We got this military green, I felt a bit like in a tank, but why not.

THE EQUIPMENT

In the van, there was everything we needed – a shower, a sink (with water), a cook (there was gas), a fridge, USB ports (the van had solar charging and the electricity worked even at night), a bed, chairs, a table, dishes, towels, bedding,… They also borrowed us a child seat (we had our 22-month-old son). The only thing I missed there was the toilet.

HOW WE LIKED IT

I loved it! Loved, loved, loved, it was heavenly perfect! I was really enthusiastic about this holiday from the beginning. My husband was a bit worried, about whether it was a good idea to rent such a van but in the end, he liked it as well. It is great when you can move wherever you want and have accommodation always with you. You don’t need to go back to hotels in the evening, you just sleep in the car and have everything with you. It’s such freedom. Even with a small child, it was amazing. All of us enjoyed that a lot.

To summarize, I would definitely recommend trying this. I know it’s not for everyone but for me it’s something unforgettable and I would love to experience a similar holiday in the future again.

So, that’s all from me, if you had any questions or in case you wanted to share your own experience, we’ll be happy for your comment 🙂

I’ve also written a similar article about Lanzarote (another one of the Canary islands), you can take a look HERE.