Best Areas to Stay in Fuerteventura, Canary Islands

Costa Calma is a tourist town in the south of the island of Fuerteventura.

Set in the north of the Jandía peninsula, 65 km south of the airport and 70 km from Puerto del Rosario, this tourist development, along with the various beach and residential compounds, make up Fuerteventura’s Sotavento Coast.

Contrary to what its name may imply, Costa Calma is, in fact, an area especially known for its strong winds.

In fact, the Sotavento Coast is one of the most important windsurfing destinations in Spain and hosts competitions such as the Freestyle Grand Slam Windsurf Championships.

The urban centre of Costa Calma is characterised by its imposing resorts and luxurious apartment buildings.

Like most tourist towns on the Canarian coasts, most of the bars and restaurants in Costa Calma are located next to the beach. El Palmeral Shopping Centre and its surrounding area also offer some shops and several restaurants.

As is to be expected, the greatest tourist attraction in Costa Calma is its beaches. Considered the most beautiful coastline in Fuerteventura, the Sotavento beaches offer kilometres of white sands, dunes and crystal clear emerald waters.

Playa Costa Calma, the main beach in the town, is the most accessible of all and offers all kinds of services for bathers, including restaurants, beach bars, showers, bathrooms and a nautical school where you can rent watersports equipment.

Other beaches in this area include Playa Esmeralda, Playa de la Barca, Risco del Paso and the extensive Playa de Sotavento.

The island’s main highway, the FV-2, connects Sotavento with Morro del Jable to the south and Puerto del Rosario to the north.

As with the rest of the island, the best way to get around Costa Calma is by rental car. Additionally, bus route number 10 connects Costa Calma with the airport and the island capital and lines 4, 9 and 10 with Morro Jable and the south of Fuerteventura.

The accommodation offer in Costa Calma is one of the most luxurious on the island. This town is known for its exclusive resorts and large chain hotels, and its elegant apartments and tourist villas.

Corralejo is the main tourist town on Fuerteventura.

It is located in the north of the island, about 40 kilometres from the airport.

Like many other towns in the Canary Islands, this coastal town originated as a small fishermen’s settlement. Everything changed in the 1960s with the arrival of the tourist industry to the south of the island, which a decade later would bring the first hotels to Corralejo.

Its thriving tourist industry has turned Corralejo into a modern city with all kinds of services and infrastructures aimed at the thousands of visitors it receives annually.

The main urban beaches of Corralejo are La Clavellina, Corralejo Viejo, La Goleta, Los Verilitos, Del Medio, Punta Prieta and La Barreta. All these beaches have all kinds of services for bathers.

However, the main tourist attraction in the north of Fuerteventura is the Great Beaches of Corralejo, a set of beaches characterised by their white dunes and crystal clear turquoise waters spanning 3.5 kilometres south from Punta de Tivas.

The Great Beaches are part of the Corralejo Natural Park, a protected area featuring dunes and desert ecosystems.

If you travel to Fuerteventura with children, the Acua Water Park offers slides, swimming pools and rest areas, as well as a children’s club and restaurants.

The town centre of Corralejo is one of the liveliest areas on the island. This pedestrianised neighbourhood offers a multitude of shops, tourist offices, restaurants, cafes and bars.

Excursions to the paradisiac Isla de Lobos and ferries to the Lanzarote town of Playa Blanca depart from the nearby port of Corralejo.

Corralejo is served by taxis and the Fuerteventura bus network, which connect the town with Puerto del Rosario, the airport and the tourist enclaves of Caleta de Fuste, Costa Calma and Morro Jable.

The accommodation offer in Corralejo is the widest in Fuerteventura. It includes from the most modest family-run guesthouses to the most luxurious resorts and a wide variety of tourist apartments and villas.

Morro Jable is a town located in the south of Fuerteventura, about 85 kilometres south of the island’s airport and 20 km from Costa Calma.

Also known as Morro del Jable, Morro Jable is part of the municipality of Pájara and the Jandía peninsula.

This town, which also has its origin in a humble fishing village, was the first to be developed as a tourist centre in the 1960s. Morro Jable is a top-rated destination among tourists and ex-pats from Northern Europe, especially British, Irish, German and Scandinavian.

The main tourist attraction of Morro Jable is the Playa del Matorral, a 4.3 km long beach with calm waters and fine golden sand and one of the favourite beaches among tourists visiting Fuerteventura.

The urban centre of Morro Jable is very lively and offers a large number of restaurants and bars.

Nearby lies the port of Morro Jable, which offers ferry connections to the Canary capitals of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.

Towards the east and north of the Morro coast, you can find a succession of semi-wild beaches and small residential compounds spanning north to Sotavento beach and the town of Costa Calma.

In contrast, the western coastline is dominated by Jandía Natural Park, a natural area known for its arid terrain and virgin beaches and coves.

At the southwestern tip of the island is the small Puerto de la Cruz. North of it lie Playa de Cofete, a large, secluded golden-sand beach offering nudist areas.

Morro Jable and the many coastal towns of Jandía offer many accommodations, including several prestigious luxury resorts.

El Cotillo is a town located in the northwest of Fuerteventura, 20 kilometres by road from Corralejo and 48 km from the island’s airport.

Along with Los Lagos, El Cotillo is the largest settlement on the west coast of Fuerteventura and stands out for its excellent beaches and charming town centre.

El Cotillo has beautiful beaches to the north and south. Its beaches stand out for their fine white sand and crystal clear waters.

To the north of the town, you can find quiet beaches and natural pools suitable for those travelling with children. On the other hand, the beaches to the south of the town are full of wild waves and strong winds and attract many surfers, windsurfers and kitesurfers.

The main beaches in El Cotillo include La Concha, Los Charcos, Piedra Playa, Los Lagos and El Caletón.

Although El Cotillo has many hotels and apartments and its centre has bars, restaurants and some shops, this town is not as crowded as other parts of the island, and its atmosphere is much quieter.

El Cotillo is connected to Corralejo and the airport by the island bus.

Caleta de Fuste is a town located on the Fuerteventura’s eastern coast, in the municipality of Antigua and 7 kilometres south of the island’s airport.

Also known as El Castillo, Caleta de Fuste is one of the most exclusive towns in Fuerteventura and is known for its upscale resorts, its marina, its many golf courses and its luxurious residential developments.

Its main beach, El Castillo, is known for its white sands and clear waters.

Sheltered by the town’s port, Playa del Castillo has the calmest waters on the island and is suitable for swimming and sunbathing. Due to its calm waters, Caleta de Fuste beach is also the most suitable for family trips.

In addition to its quiet beach, Caleta offers other family-friendly attractions such as the Oceanarium Explorer, a marine park offering shows and activities for children, boat trips, and the opportunity to swim with sea lions.

The most representative historical attraction of the town is Torre de San Buenaventura. Also known as Castillo de Caleta, this circular stone tower was built in the 18th century to defend the island from pirate attacks.

The main commercial and entertainment area of ​​Caleta de Fuste is located around Playa del Castillo and in the north of the town.

The southern developments offer a more relaxed and residential atmosphere, with numerous hotels and resorts and tourist apartments built around the manicured golf courses.

Caleta de Fuste is well-connected to the airport and Puerto del Rosario through the FV-2 highway and the Fuerteventura bus.

Puerto del Rosario is the largest city and capital of the island of Fuerteventura.

Located on the eastern coast of the island, 5 km from the airport, Puerto del Rosario is the oldest town in Fuerteventura and the only one that is not fully devoted to tourism.

Due to its importance and age, Puerto del Rosario also has the highest concentration of historical and cultural attractions. Some of the cultural attractions of the capital include the Juan Ismael Art Centre, the Casa de la Cultura de Puerto del Rosario and La Alcogida Ecomuseum.

Casa Museo de Unamuno, located next to the Cabildo Insular, is the place where the Spanish philosopher Miguel de Unamuno lived during his exile in Fuerteventura in 1924. The Sculptural Park of Puerto del Rosario, also in the city centre, showcases over 50 works by different artists.

Among the beaches of the municipality are Puerto Lajas, Playa de Los Pozos and Playa Blanca. These beaches are suitable for watersports such as surfing and windsurfing.

Puerto del Rosario is the best*connected town in Fuerteventura. The island capital is the departure point of all the roads leading to the tourist centres and natural parks and is where most of the interurban bus lines converge.

The port of Puerto del Rosario offers many ferry connections to Lanzarote, Las Palmas and Tenerife.

The accommodation offer in the island capital is quite varied. As it is not a proper tourist city, Puerto del Rosario is the cheapest area to stay in Fuerteventura.

Esquinzo is a town on the Jandía peninsula, in the south of the island of Fuerteventura.

This set of luxurious residential developments is located north of Morro Jable and south of Costa Calma.

Esquinzo is known for its beautiful beaches with turquoise waters and golden sands.

Thanks to its powerful and constant winds, the area of ​​Playa de Jandía is especially popular with windsurfers and surfers.

Esquinzo and Playa de Jandía have a large number of hotel complexes and huge resorts offering all services.

The area furthest from the coast also has some tourist apartments.

La Oliva is an inland town located in the north of the island of Fuerteventura.

This quiet rural village is known for its many historical attractions such as Casa de Los Coroneles; an 18th-century building with crenellated towers, the church of Our Lady of Candelaria; a colonial-style chapel with a volcanic stone bell tower, Casa Mané Canarian Art Centre; a small museum with a collection of art from the Canary Islands, and the stately mansions Casa de la Cilla and Casa del Inglés.

The Museum of Traditions, housed in a traditional-style house, offers a collection of local art and crafts.

La Oliva is also very close to unmissable natural attractions.

The Tindaya mountain, a place of huge archaeological value, rises 400 metres above sea level and is home to the Barranco de Tinojay archaeological site. The El Llano, Esquinzo and Guriame caves offer Majos ruins and remains.

La Oliva’s location, in the geographic centre of the island’s north and halfway between Corralejo, El Cotillo and Puerto del Rosario makes it an excellent town to stay in Fuerteventura to be close to everything.

Ajuy is a small town located in the southwest of the island of Fuerteventura.

Famous for its beaches and caves, Ajuy is probably the least crowded coastal town in Fuerteventura.

Its small urban centre, home to about 150 inhabitants, has some restaurants and spectacular views of the cliffs and beaches.

The Ajuy Caves are one of the main tourist attractions in the area and are part of the Ajuy Natural Monument.

Ajuy beach is one of the quietest in Fuerteventura. Unlike other white-sand coastal areas of the island, Ajuy beach stands out for its black volcanic sands.

Ajuy does not have many accommodations. Most of its offer is based on privately-owned tourist apartments.

To find available accommodation, it is best to book early, especially in the high season.

Tuineje is a rural village located in the geographic centre of the island of Fuerteventura.

This small town is known for its pre-Hispanic ruins. Tuineje is also home to the charming church of San Miguel and the Molino de Antigua.

Tuineje is a popular area with hikers who use it as a starting port to explore the nearby Betancuria Rural Park.

The accommodation offer in the village of Tuineje consists mainly of rural houses.