Surfing and kitesurfing vacation in Fuerteventura

In the end of January it was time for a new surfing trip. This time Jonathan and I gathered some friends and headed to the island Fuerteventura, in the Canaries. The name Fuerteventura means strong wind in Spanish, and of course that’s something that we kitesurfers like. But this time we also took advantage of Fuerteventura’s beautiful, clean waves and did som wavesurfing!

We were 7 friends that stayed at Planet Surf Camps, a surf camp where we also got surfing lessons five days of our stay. The surf was actually really good. All days of our surf scool we had nice, clean waves rolling in, some days a little bit better than the other. The wavesurfing season is in the winter, and even though the best winds are in the summer we also got a few really nice kitesurfing days on the water, too.

I have been travelling to a lot of places for surfing, and I have to admit that Fuertevenura is one of the best. The kitesurfing spots were great, the surfing was super, the people at the surf camp were friendly, the teachers were very helpful, the weather was warm (for beeing Europe), the flight was not too long and the food was great.

If you are planning your surfing or kitesurfing vacation, give Fuerteventura a shot! Here’s a few tips that’s helpful if you decide to visit the windy, Spanish island.

• Invite your friends to the trip, it’s fun to join the surf lessons togheter with friends!
• Buy cheap flights – you can find really cheap flights to Fuerteventura
• Bring a 3/2 long wetsuit in the winter, that was warm enough
• Stay in Corralejo (close to many surfspots)
• Book accomodation at Planet Surf Camp – or some other surf camp, but this was a great one!
• Rent a car from the airport when you arrive (perfect if you want to see more of the island)
• Eat dinner at the local areas close to the harbour where the food is cheap and delicious.
• Surf, eat, sleap, repeat and enjoy you perfect vacation!

Planet Surf Camps was situated in Corralejo, in a new, fresh house with a lot of rooms for 2-6 people. The rooms were simple, but fresh and clean. You could hang out with the other guests in the living rooom/kitchen or outside on the balcony, where there also was a ping pong table, a billiard table, indo board, chill out area and a small pool.

We got divided into two groups, depending on how much surfing we have done before. We surfed for about 3 hours a day, usally in the morning but sometimes in the afternoon – depending on the best swell of course. The surf teachers stuffed us into a car and drove to the best spot for the day, so you never had to worry about the forecast and swell yourself which I think was great.

Personally I learned a lot from the course. I learned how to use the channels to easily get out to the waves, to get up on the board properly – but most important I finally learned how to turn on the wave! The teachers were riding with us all the time, and gave some great advises that I will keep in my mind from now on:

• Chest, butt, back foot, frontfoot – how to stand up properly!
• Arms in front, not to the sides (this was something I had to work on a lot!)
• Arms and eyes to the side you want to turn – and weight down.
• Weight forward for getting more speed.

I loved the trip and Fuerteventura is definitely a place I would like to visit again. If you are planning on going somewhere warm in the winter, Fuerteventura is one of the best places within a short flight time from Northern Europe. The weather is a lot like the Finnish summer, so the temperature varies but can give you everything between sunny afternoons in bikini to cold nights in winter jacket.

And as said before the kitesurfing was also surprisingly good. The famous Flag beach was ok with pretty consistent side-onshore, but you had too watch out for the rocks close to the beach on low tide. They  were really sharp and the board can get damaged pretty easily.

The other spot we found, close to the lighthouse in El Cotillo, was a small lagoon with perfectly flat water, so nice! I practised tricks here for 1½ days and could have stayed there.. The spot was good only on high tide, on low tide it was to shallow and too many rocks. A little bit crowded though sometimes. But i loved it.

Last but not least, here’s more photos from the trip and also a short GoPro-video made by Planet Surf Camps!

Here you find more info about Planet Surf Camps!

My wetsuit: Rip Curl Dawn Patrol 3/2

Kitesurfing gear: Airush Razor kites and Airush Diamond board