Kitesurfing Fuertaventura: Sotavento Lagoon & Flag Beach

kitesurfing Sotavento lagoon

We have planned this trip so many times, and for various reasons many times it didn't happen. Once we were even all packed, taxi to the airport ordered for early next morning, just to receive a very late message from Easyjet that Fuerteventura is not letting in arrivals from UK due to Covid.

Finally in June 2022, it was happening - we have boarded the plane with our gear and took off towards Fuertaventura for our next kitesurfing adventure.

We have taken 10 days holiday to explore the island and split our trip into two locations, the first one in Sotavento at the time when famous Sotavento Lagoon is filling up with water and the second one in Corralejo, home to the beautiful Flag Beach.

On arrival we have collected our hire car and headed south towards Sotavento. Car hire was quite affordable comparing to European prices and petrol was also cheaper than what we were used to in UK.

In Sotavento we stayed at the Melia Sotavento as it had access to the beach and was very close to the lagoon.

Rene Egli kite spot

The spot in front of the hotel is very picturesque, but apart from this I was not impressed. The wind in Sotavento is thermal and comes in the afternoon from the land. It is therefore off shore and as it rolls over the mountains and hotel it is very gusty. If gusty and offshore is your cup of tea, then this is the place for you.

Having said that, there is a rescue service if needed, but watch out as the centre closes at 6pm and sometimes earlier, whilst wind can come and stay in the evening and easily last till 8pm. Don't be tempted to kite offshore as others have tried and.... (read about it yourself in my friends blog. https://thisgirlkites.com/2017/09/01/why-not-to-kite-off-shore/ ).

Sotavento lagoon is an amazing spot, shallow enough to stand in most places but also deep enough to practice tricks safely. It can get quite busy with schools at peak times so get there early, set up as soon as there is water and enjoy the spot before the schools arrive. We have kited the lagoon from both shores, north end direction from Cost Calma was quite gusty similarily to Sotavento and there is also a wind shadow from the raised shoreline. This made launching quite tricky and many have to walk out with their kite

and then launch from water. There is another spot from the south direction of Jandia beach where also Ion Club is located, we have kited there another day and I personally prefer this spot. Lagoon is tide dependant and not always usable so check Rene Egli lagoon calendar if you intend using it as you will need to time your arrival to be in sync with the right time of the month, when the lagoon is full of water.

Practising jumps in Sotavento Lagoon

Melia Sotavento is the only hotel right by the kitesurfing beach, but there are other accommodations in nearby Costa Calma so if you have car you have more choice. There is a good choice of restaurants in Costa Calma and we went out every night as we have only ordered breakfasts in Melia. Great choice of tapas and nice cocktails.

The second part of our Fuertaventura adventure was planned in Corralejo at the north end of the island. Corralejo is an amazing beach resort with a beautiful Blue Flag beach.

Blue Flag kite spot in Corralejo

There are plenty of accommodation options to choose from suitable for every budget. Flag beach tends to be an afternoon spot so if you can work remotely and like to start work early, its a good destination for you as the wind doesn't usually pick up until 4pm.

The spot is very scenic with side or side on-shore wind, but it does get rather busy and the rescue boat again is only available until 6pm, which is a shame as the wind often blows longer.

There are some rocks on the beach so you have to be mindful of these when kitesurfing.

If you are after lessons the Blue Flag kite school offers lessons off the boat, which has certain advantages as you don't have to worry about busy beach full of kiters and/or beach goers. The school monitors the weather and will take you to the sea to find wind, if they can. They also use spot at the west north end of the island in El Cotijo, if wind is better there.

There is something special about Corralejo, maybe the idyllic view that makes you want to go back so I recon I will be back in a couple of years as I improve my directional board skills to kitesurf there again.

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