Androgyn.beauty's Blog

The old fishing village and harbor from the North – East of Lanzarote is a surfers paradise, unknown for the typical tourists of the island (for not being on the popular excursions map), Caleta de Famara, with its covered in sand streets, is a beautiful yet wild place to spend your afternoon. You can have a delicious meal at one of the sea-food restaurants and then walk (or even camp) on the long wild beach. Famara seems to bear the brunt of the tradewinds sweeping in from the Atlantic and the fact that the Risco — cliffs — rise straight up from the depths of the ocean to the highest point on the island mean that it always seems to be damp.

That being said it is a staggeringly beautiful place, in fact César Manrique — the island’s prodigal son — loved the place, having spent many summers there as a child.

Famara enjoys possibly one of the longest stretches of beach on the island of Lanzarote, curving round under the cliffs, which stand like sentinels protecting it from the rest of the island.

The strong currents mean that it is not advisable to swim in the sea at Famara — most people you find in the water are experienced surfers — these currents also explain the unusual phenomena that the beach is sandy in summer and rocky in the winter.

The strong winds also mean that it is not the most pleasant place to sit and sunbathe for most of the year; although it is a mecca for lovers of the extreme sport of kitesurfing, whose participants make a fantastic site skimming across the water, pulled by their large, brightly coloured kites. Not being crowded, the beach is also frequented by nudists.

There is a second, much smaller beach, known as San Juan, which is mainly used by the surfers and which plays host to one of the professional surfing competions every year.

Although not the best for sunworshippers, the beaches at Famara certainly make for a great walk, it is true to say that the scenery is simply some of the best on the island. If you go in the late evening in the Autumn months, you will be blessed with some fantastic sunsets, as the sun slowly sinks into the Atlantic. My visit here was in August, but the weather was interesting: not windy, but I didn’t escaped from a light rain. And this happened while all the other parts of the island were in full sun with zero chance of rain. The heights nearby Famara stopped the clouds and force them to pour on the beach. This place has its own moody eco-system, but even so, with the rain dropping, I wasn’t afraid to set up a photo session with my beach outfit (and not only, as you’ll see in a future post). I hope you’ll like it The first set of photos is here:

My arrival on the beach:

The view from my spot:

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