About Puerto del Carmen, Lanzarote

The Island of Lanzarote is approximately 1000 km away from the Spanish coast and about 100 km from the African continent. It covers an area of about 845 square kilometres. The highest elevation with 671 metres above sea level is the "Peñas del Chache", belonging to the impressive rocky reef "El Risco de Famara", stretching along the island's northern coast for more than 15 kilometres. The annual air temperature averages 21°C, the water temperature fluctuates between 18°C in winter and 22°C in summer.

Lanzarote has no ground water. Water is produced by desalination;
electricity is generated at an oil fired power station.

About 15 minutes drive from Arrecife airport, Puerto del Carmen offers 5km of broad, pale sandy beaches as well as a wide variety of places to eat and drink and it remains a popular destination for holidaymakers from far and wide. Made up of a 'new' and 'old' town, Puerto del Carmen has no high-rise structures and almost all buildings are white and unpretentious.

For nightlife in Puerto del Carmen you can watch the locals taking part in a few games of boules in the old town, which seems to be a nightly occurrence. The old town also offers a great variety of restaurants serving fresh fish, while if you head off into the holiday area you'll find everything from traditional English sports bars to Chinese restaurants.

 

• Information on local beaches

If sun and sea are your thing, then the 6 kilometre stretch of golden beaches — washed by the waters of the Atlantic — should be enough to tempt you. All of the beaches fly the Blue Flag — awarded by the EEC — for cleanliness and lack of contamination. The surrounding waters are considered to be some of the most tranquil in the Canary Islands, they are excellent for Swimming and other water sports.

Playa Grande

These golden grains run virtually unbroken for around 6km, from the Hotel San Antonio through to the Old Town Harbour, encompassing a number of beautiful coves and distinctly different beaches on the way. In the other direction a further 9km of beach runs through Los Pocillos to Matagorda. But the beaches in Puerto del Carmen generally offer a bit more shelter from any prevailing wind. And all are within walking distance of each other, making it easy to beach hop between them.

As the name suggests the Blue Flag beach Playa Grande is the resorts longest individual stretch of sand, clocking in at around 1.2km.

The beach here shelves very gently into the sea, which makes it perfect for toddlers and young children. The sea here is also usually very calm with little current, so paddling and swimming is very safe.

The beach is cleaned daily and boasts loads of amenities such as sun-beds and parasols, first aid facilities, toilets, showers and snack machines. You can even hire one of the slightly scary looking giant swan pedaloes.

For families with young kids Playa Grande is the number one pick from the point of view of both safety and facilities.

This is Puerto del Carmen's main beach so you can expect it to get crowded during peak holiday periods.

• Information on local sports

Many Sports are available here, both on land and in the water.

There are a number of diving schools and windsurfing centres in Puerto del Carmen, if you fancy taking up one of these exhilarating sports.

For the more energetic amongst you; swimming, cycling and running are also very popular, with various bike hire shops along the main beach promenade. The Lanzarote IronMan triathlon, which is a major international athletics event, starts and finishes on the Avenida de Las Playas, lending an air of excitement to the resort every May / June.

The new golf course, just outside of Puerto del Carmen on the road to Tias has been open for three years now. You can get more information about the course by visiting here.

• Information on local shopping

As befits such a mecca for tourists, there are a wealth of shopping opportunities available, whether you want to peruse the tourist offerings of the main Beach Avenue or fancy something a bit more upmarket in the Biosfera shopping complex. Everything is available from duty free electronics equipment, local arts and crafts through to luxury designer clothes and shoes.

• Information on local festivals

Carnaval — which takes place at the end of February to the beginning of March — attracts many visitors from all over Europe, joining the local residents in their celebrations.

The end of July signals the Fiesta de Nuestra Señora del Carmen, patron saint of Puerto del Carmen. Visitors again make the population swell as folklore performances, singing and dancing fill the night until the early hours of the morning. Specially decorated fishing boats setting out to sea, to pray for good catches in the coming year, signals the end of this particular fiesta.

• Information on where to eat

There are well over 100 restaurants on the Avenida de Las Playas alone, with menus to suit all tastes and budgets from fast food, through to high class gourmet eating. Read the Puerto del Carmen Restaurant Guide.

Although it's very difficult for us to recommend restaurants due to varied tastes and expectations we have had excellent feedback from previous visitors to our villa on the Restaurante Casa Cabana www.casacabanalanzarote.co.uk

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