"Isla de Lanzarote" a Isla de Lanzarote Travel Page by nigelw6443

Lanzarote is 200km (124mi) north-east of Gran Canaria, and approximately 100km (60 mi) east of the African coast.

It hardly ever rains on Lanzarote, so all the water you wash in is likely to be desalinated sea water. It is advisable not to drink the water but it is okay to brush your teeth from the tap.

Due to the lack of rain it is an incredibly dry place, and at first glance may not appear to offer much, as there is not too much greenery, but the entire island is in fact a Biosphere Reserve.

There are three main resorts on the island, Arrecife, the capital, Puerto del Carmen and Costa Teguise. The latter both being more or less completely tourist orientated with the usual bars and cafes along the beach promenades. Arrecife the capital, is where the locals go to shop and it is less touristy.

Lanzarote, you will notice is also very windy and not too long ago was once a windsurfers paradise. Now more of a tourist location but the resorts have many surf shops and schools and still gets an international selection of windsurfers.

I stayed in Costa Teguise which is basically a resort built totally for tourism. Although it is a resort, there are only a handful of large resort type hotels and none are high rise. The rest being mainly apartment accomodation.

The resort maintains a typical Canarian style with most buildings being no more than two storeys with whitewashed walls with the typical arabic type chimney and wooden doors and shutters.

There are three sandy beaches the main one being Playa de las Cucharas. Here you will find the sea promenade along with a few bars and shops.