Fuerteventura * | Naturist Holidays

Fuerteventura

Corralejo - 1995

“It's not fair,” said our twelve-year-old daughter one day. “The boys [her two older brothers, with birthdays in the summer] have both had barbecues for their birthdays. I want a barbecue for my birthday [in the winter].”

And so it was that we had our first winter holiday, staying at Los Delfines (not a naturist establishment) - N28.7295° W13.8605° - on the edge of Corralejo in the north of the island in the first two weeks of February. It was very strange to experience weather that we would expect on a good English summer's day, in the winter and nearly every day.

We had booked a two-bedroomed self-catering apartment and when we arrived we discovered that it was on the first floor. When exploring the apartment we found that a door in one bedroom led out on to a six hundred square foot roof terrace which had no other access - it was ours. It was surrounded by a low wall that wasn't quite high enough screen us when walking about, but did allow us to sit down, unwrap our sarongs and sunbathe on the sunbeds provided. On Google Earth the terrace can be seen at N28.7299° W13.8604°.

Although there are no designated naturist beaches on Fuerteventura, all beaches that are away from a town can usually be used for nude sunbathing and swimming. At Corralejo, most of the beach between the edge of the town and the two large hotels about a mile south was used by naturists. Here people had built circular corrals using rocks scavenged from the surrounding sands. These corrals gave each group a base and they protected sunbathers from the stiff breezes that seem to blow continuously.

One day we hired a car and explored the interior of the island. We visited Betancuria - N28.4246° W14.0576 - the old capital of the island, and the lace-making shop at Lajares.

On our daughter's birthday we joined an organised day out to the beach at Playa de Salmo - see below - where she did get her birthday barbecue.

Fuerteventura website

Jandía - 1995, 2023, 2024

Jandía beach is a long beach in the south of the island, on the southeast coast of the Jandia peninsula. It is around thirteen miles long and stretches from Costa Calma to Morro Jable. It has several access points, each with its own name. At low tide it is possible to walk the whole way along the beach. While staying at Corralejo in 1995, we went on an organised trip to Playa de Salmo - see below.

We were able to walk a short distance away from the main party and strip off, only dressing to return for the barbecue and, later, to return to Corralejo.

During our 2023 holiday at BHH Naturist Resort - see below - we hired a car for the full two weeks and explored the beaches along the Jandía coast. Each access point leads down to a car park, and each of these car parks is labelled with the name of that part of the beach. Access to some of them was interesting, but we were able to drive down to several of the beaches and park before exploring. Our favourite was Playa de Esquinzo, mainly because of the soft sand dune to lie against and the rocks that are ideal for snorkelling.

During our 2024 holiday at BHH Naturist Resort we again hired a car for the whole holiday and explored other beaches along the Jandía coast and elsewhere. We found that there was a wide range of clothing being worn by the people on the beach - from fully dressed to fully nude - but no one seemed to mind those of us who were nude.

The adjacent button gives the tide times for the Jandía peninsula. The list of beaches below is arranged from north to south.

Jandia tide times

Playa Esmeralda - 2024

Playa Esmeralda is reached down a gravel track that begins at the roundabout at N28.1848° W14.2363° with the car park at N28.1445° W 14.2372°. One of us walked to the beach from Playa de los Canarios and found very few people there. The beach is around 400 yards long.

Playa de la Barca - 2024

This beach is just round the corner from Risco del Paso and is also used by windsurfers and kiteboarders. During the walk that one of us made along this part of the coast, there were few naturists there but, like all beaches in Spain, there would be no problems stripping off here.

Risco del Paso - 2023, 2024

Risco del Paso is accessed along a well surfaced road from a roundabout off the FV-2 at N28.1284° W14.2718°. Unfortunately it can only be reached while travelling north on the FV-2. The road has a good asphalted surface until the last quarter of a mile or so where the asphalted surface gives way to compacted sand which has eroded into ridges. At the end of the road is a large car park which could probably contain up to a hundred cars. Near the car park is a surf school.

On our 2023 visit we walked south a short way and found a space in the bushes that grow at the back of the beach, stripped off and settled down. The bushes grow for about 350 yards along the beach and up to 100 yards inland and make very useful windbreaks. We tried to identify them and the best we could find was that they were probably European samphire - Salicornia europaea. After some time on the beach and a swim we walked - still nude - about a mile further south and came to Playa del Salmo.

In 2024 we settled in more or less the same spot and also enjoyed a short walk out to the sand bar.

Playa de Salmo - 2023, 2024

Playa del Salmo is reached down a gravel track that begins at the Mirador del Salmo - N28.1018° W14.2752°. Turn off the road and immediately turn left onto the track and follow it down to the large car park at N28.1036° W14.2718°. The track begins with a good asphalt surface but soon becomes a compacted gravel surface that is a bit lumpy in places.

From the car park the beach extends in both directions with a few stone corrals and plenty of sheltered areas between the bushes. On the day that we drove to it, we spent a couple of hours nude on the beach and then left our clothes in the car and explored a short distance of the footpath that leaves the back of the car park and runs across the hills to Playa de los Canarios.

Playa de los Canarios - 2023, 2024

Playa de los Canarios is a wide sandy beach about six miles south of Costa Calma. On some maps it is labelled as Playa de Pajara. There is ample parking a short walk from the beach, but the track to it has a gravel surface and is very twisty. The entrance to the track is off the FV-602 at N28.1020° W14.2828°. From the car park, where we stripped off and left our clothes in the car, we followed one of the paths to the right until we came to a row of stone corrals and the sandy beach. We found an empty corral and settled down. We were there at low tide and it was a fair walk out to water that was deep enough to swim in. Later we walked - still nude - further away from the car park and came to Playa de Mal Nombre, labelled on some maps as Playa Tierra Dorada after the café behind the beach.

In 2024 one of us walked north from here for around three miles, passing Playa de Salmo, Risco del Paso and Playa de la Barca, to the southern edge of Playa Esmeralda.

Playa de Mal Nombre - 2023, 2024

Playa de Mal Nombre is another wide sandy beach about eight miles south of Costa Calma. On some maps it is labelled as Playa Tierra Dorada, which is the name of the beach café there. The great advantage of this beach over Playa de los Canarios is that it has a well surfaced road going down to it - starting at N28.0924° W14.2886° - and it has a beach café and bar offering meals, snacks and drinks. It also has tables and chairs on the beach, sunbeds for hire, showers and lavatories.

Playa de Esquinzo - 2024

Playa Esquinzo is another wide sandy beach about nine miles south of Costa Calma. Behind it is a small car park that is accessed down a steep, twisty, stony track starting at N28.0783° W14.2988°. Once at the car park, where you can leave your clothes in the car, we walked down to the beach and then to the left and found a comfortable spot against the huge dune at the back of the beach. The soft sand was very comfortable to lie on. There was a more or less equal mix of nude and clothed people while we were there and after a while one of us walked north, still nude, along the beach to Playa de los Canarios and back, a distance of around 3.7 miles in total. The mix of nude and clothed remained more or less the same along the beach.

The beach has some groups of rocks that are covered at high tide and provide ideal snorkelling opportunities. We saw around half a dozen species of fish during a couple of snorkelling sessions.

Playa de Butihondo - 2024

Playa Esquinzo is another wide sandy beach about two miles north of where the coast turns the corner towards Morro Jable. Behind the beach is a small car park that is accessed down a gravel track from the roundabout at N28.0609° W14.3141°. From there the beach stretches in both directions with several corrals to shelter in if the wind is strong.

We accessed the beach by walking south from Playa Esquinzo and found a few naturists on the beach and in the sea.

BHH Naturist Resort - 2023, 2024

BHH Naturist Resort is a villa on the edge of Costa Calma. It contains four self-catering apartments called Naturist, Au Naturel, Buff and Bare. We stayed in Naturist, a two-bedroomed apartment on the ground floor with an additional sofa-bed in the living room.

The sitting area, where the television is

Bougainvillea bush in one of the borders

The villa is well equipped with a small swimming pool, several sunbeds and several tables and chairs at the front of the villa and a barbecue and bar, a day bed and a quiet corner with a table and chairs at the rear. There are also drying racks for wet towels.

Our apartment consisted of a main room divided in two by a broad arch and two steps; two bedrooms; and a bathroom containing a shower, a lavatory and a washbasin. The first area of the main room was the sitting room with a television and the second area - down the steps - had a dining table and chairs and a reasonably equipped kitchen.

From BHH we visited Betancuria, the old capital of the island, and the Cheese Museum on the edge of Antigua in the middle of the island. We also went on a dolphin watch cruise from Morro Jable and saw a Cuvier's beaked whale and at least a dozen common dolphins.

For stocking up the cupboards there are two Spar supermarkets at N28.1589° W14.2286° and N28.1572° W14.2298° with on-street parking between them. There is also a large Mercadona supermarket in Esquinzo around ten miles down the FV-2 at N28.0733° W14.3075°, but we found the two Spars sufficient for our shopping.

Betancuria website

Cheese Museum website

Dolphin cruise website

BHH website

Free wi-fi included

Oasis Wildlife Park

In 2024 we visited again and stayed for three weeks. With more time we were able to visit more beaches and also went on several nude walks along the Jandia beach and two nude walks within the large nature reserve that covers around fifty-five square miles of the southern end of the island.

We spent most of one day at the Oasis Wildlife Park a few miles north of Costa Calma - a very interesting day out.

Playa el Puertito - 2023

Playa el Puertito is in a small cove just off the FV-2 south of La Lajita and can only be accessed when travelling northwards. Immediately before the sign marking the beginning of La Lajita is a small wooden sign pointing to the right - N28.1835° W14.1607°. Turn sharp right and then take the left hand track and follow it down to the beach.

As you approach the beach, drive to the right of the parking area - southwards - and then walk to the right where there is a little beach of black shingle used by naturists.

This is an ideal beach for snorkelling and on the day that we went we saw around eight different species of fish and two clumps of sponges in a swim of around fifteen minutes.

Although the centre and left hand, north, parts of the beach appear to be textile, the southern end is naturist.

Parque Natural de Jandía - 2024

Jandía Nature Park is a large area of mountains and semi-desert covering most of the narrow "tail" of the island. The semi-desert area is criss-crossed with paths and tracks and has several access points from nearby roads. The main road south, the FV-2, has three tunnels under it from the Costa Calma area that lead to the edge of the park.

We enjoyed two nude walks in the park, one starting from N28.1675° W14.2276°, where we parked the car and then went through the tunnel at N28.1686° W14.2308°. We started and finished the walk dressed, but were able to walk 4.7 miles nude. The eight or so people that we met - ranging in age from twenties to seventies - were not perturbed by our lack of attire and either ignored us completely or exchanged pleasant greetings with us.

On another day we walked from just south of the FV-2 at N28.1741° W14.2259°, where we parked the car. This time we were able to strip off at the car and walk through the nearby tunnel into the park. We walked 5.8 miles including a short stretch of the Camino Natural Fuerteventura: Corralejo to Punta de Jandía, a ninety-six and a half mile trail that runs from Corralejo Harbour to the lighthouse at the tip of Jandía. This time we saw no one else but did see a white stork, a raven, a flock of Berthelot's pipits and several Barbary ground squirrels.

We look forward to more walks in the Nature Park on future visits to Fuerteventura.