Island City Boards

Another Old Fashioned Blog About a Return to Lanzarote

I finished the previous holiday blog by saying that we would go back to Lanzarote. It turned out that we went back sooner than expected.

At the time of writing this, we’ve all experienced nearly four months of heatwaves. But if you cast your mind back to the beginning of 2026, we had dreadful weather – non-stop rain and temperatures well below average. And that’s why we made the decision to get away from the miserable UK Spring and get some Sun and Surf. Our original date for take-off was the middle of April, but building works at the hotel pushed us back to the middle of May. This was a lucky escape. The weather for that April in Lanzarote was awful – Torrential rain for weeks on end. We were told that April is not a great time to visit Lanzarote, weather-wise. Thinking back, in April 2025 there were flash floods in Costa Teguise which caused a great deal of damage. So avoid April if you’re looking for a tan.

We flew with British Airways again, and there were no problems with the boards. On arrival we weren’t greeted with sultry heat, but chilly, cloudy gloom. There had been an Artic Blast sweeping down from Europe and we were on the tail end of it. So for the first couple of days we were glad to have packed our sweatshirts and hoodies.

The Fastest Car In The World

If you ever watched Top Gear you will know that The Fastest Car In The World is a rental car. On our last visit I wanted to use what I thought was a trusted company. I won’t say who it was, but they sounded like Mavis. Their service was appalling and they were rip off merchants. So this time, I went local.

I booked with them online before we flew out and everything was easy to deal with at the airport and stress free. There were no hidden costs and the car was perfect for what we needed. A little note about driving in Lanzarote, the locals speed everywhere and get away with it, but they always park on their side of the road, in the direction of the traffic. If you don’t do this there’s a chance you will be fined

It was interesting to see the different parts of the island in a different season. The biggest difference was the fact there was a lot more greenery. Although tourists had complained about the significant rain fall, the islanders had welcomed it. Plants and grasses that had lain dormant were waking up and blooming.

For us, the different season meant that Famara just wasn’t working as well. On the first day we went there it was Death On A Stick. A few surf schools were in, but it was well dodge. Also, the heavy storms had washed up loads and loads of plastic waste – millions of Nurdles.

I’ve seen this at Hayle in Cornwall, and it really is shocking to see what’s in The Atlantic Ocean. I know there are organisations around the world that campaign for cleaner seas, but when you see this you can’t help thinking that ‘it’s all too late’.

We did go back to Famara and had a few half-decent sessions, but as we were told before… If it’s not working on the west of the island, go to the east.

Our best spot for boarding this time round was Playa La Garita in Arrieta. We had super-clean waves, being held up by an offshore wind. And it wasn’t crowded. Footsurfers were down the bottom end, near the beach bar/restaurant, which gave us plenty of space for our bellyboards and Little Skidda handplanes.

A note about Famara and La Garita beaches. Famara was always red flagged when we’ve been there. As you know, that’s no swimming. But it’s full of surfers (and us), So you’ve got to be aware of any rips or dodgy currents. On one of our days there, we were boarding and then noticed that the sea conditions had changed and so got out straight away. Basically, don’t be a hero. At La Garita, there’s a lifeguard, and he’s really on the ball, like proper on it.

There’s A Surf Shop We Won’t Be Going Back To…

In my last blog I mentioned that there were two Surf Shops that I wanted to see. That was Nomads Land, in Teguise, and Famara Power, in Caleta de Famara. We went back to them on this trip and I’m pleased to say that they were both still great. Still very welcoming and open minded to bellyboarders. I highly recommend you give them a visit if you’re on the island. There is one Surf Shop, however, that I won’t recommend. This shop is in San Bartomolé. It comes up high on Google search and has decent reviews. This was what happened on our two visits…

The shop is large, it’s like a T shape, a long narrow part with a counter running the length and then it opens out. It has a lot of gear. Pretty much everything. Accessories, Clothing, Wetsuits, Boogs, Boards and Skateboards. We went in and started browsing. Now I’d like to point out that this isn’t on a busy strip or the tourist trail. If you’re in this shop, you’ve got an interest in Surfing. Throughout the time we were there, we were ignored by the two members of staff. One was probably the owner. We would look over and try and acknowledge them and they blanked us. After a while, a local came into the shop, suddenly the two members of staff were animated, happy and chatting with them. So we thought Fuff This and left. Unfortunately, we had to go back. Before we travelled, we had both bought new fins, and we found that we needed Fin Savers. I bought the last ones in Famara Power, Nomads Land had run out, so we had to go back to San Bartomolé. This time, we went in and looked at the selection behind the counter. The ‘owner’ was at the far end and another guy was with him, behind it. After standing there for a while, we called out and asked for a pair of Fin Savers. The guy walked down, reached for a set and threw them on the counter. They weren’t the right ones, so we pointed out which ones we were talking about. Again, he just threw them on the counter. We should have walked out, but we needed the Savers. After paying, he returned to the far end without a Gracias or Besa Mi Culo.

The saving grace from our two visits to that small town was Pasteleria Lolita. An amazing bakery/cafe with lovely cakes and coffee at a great price. I recommend that you go there and stick two fingers up at the surf shop opposite.

On this holiday we didn’t just take Fringe Surfing gear, we also took snorkeling stuff as well. There were two great places that we went to. First, was Caletón Blanco. This is just off the LZ1, near Órzola. At low tide, it’s an enclosed rocky area with white sand and crystal clear water. The other was actually part of Costa Teguise. It’s called Playa del Jablillo. Again you want a low tide, but this is an enclosed cove which has hundreds of fish. If you didn’t want to snorkel, you can just wade in and the fish will surround you. If you take a bit of banana you can feed them. Although there is parking nearby, you’ll be lucky to get a space without waiting for a while.

The Dreaded EES

Before we travelled, there was a lot of Doom Mongering about the new European Entry/Exit System. There were regular social media posts showing long queues at the Arrival area of Arrecife Airport. And, to be honest, even though I’m generally upbeat and relaxed about things, I wasn’t looking forward to it. Now, I get the idea of it. If everyone uses their eyes and fingerprints to book in, it will take a while, but it’s a true record of who is entering and leaving the country. And once you’ve set it up, it’s then nice and easy. Right? Wrong.

Our arrival was smooth and there weren’t long queues. We each had to register our eyeballs and fingers and then book in, using those eyeballs and fingers. But it was when we departed that the full fiasco revealed itself. Our return flight was on Sunday evening. (This was a mistake, Sunday is one of the busiest days for Arrecife and The Iron Man Triathlon had just taken place). After getting through to the Departure Lounge, we were advised to do the eye/finger thing straight away. So we did that and wondered what all the fuss was about. It was when we went to board the plane that we found what the fuss was. Everybody with a non-European passport had to do the eye and finger thing before you could board. They only started it when the plane had arrived, because they don’t know which gate it was going to park at. The queue ended up all over the place. It took at least 30 seconds for each person, so 150 passengers on three terminals, that’s about forty minutes, so the plane ends up being delayed and misses its time slot. The biggest question was Why did we have to do it twice? Did they think we had swapped eyeballs in the Departure Lounge! If you’ve cleared Security and registered that you’re leaving the country, surely that’s enough! Thankfully for us, the plane waited for everyone, but it really was a stressful thing and we had a long wait on the plane before taking off. I’m not sure how it will speed up, so I guess the thing to do is only fly on quiet days, or get an Irish passport.

Anyway, despite the EES and an iffy surf shop experience, it was another great holiday, and we still rate it as a fantastic Surf Destination. So Hasta la proxima Lanzarote!