NATURIST FUERTAVENTURA
Posted by Jill Bowen on Fri 11th May 2007 at 05:46 PM, Filed in Naturism
A few years ago I visited Tenerife with my significant other, and for me it was too commercial. Fuerteventura sounded a good option after my younger sister (who’s not a naturist) had visited and mentioned that the beach at her hotel the ‘Sol Elite Gorriones’ might suit us, as she’d noticed people ‘in the nuddie’ on the few occasions she had used it.
The majority of visitors to Fuerteventura come for the beaches, over 50 km of glorious clean white and golden sands, small bays and sweeping stretches to tempt sunbathers. The landscape is filled with ridges and crests of sand (like golden mountains) that sweep down to the bright blue sea. It’s a windsurfers paradise. The wind that seems to come out of nowhere …sometimes threatening the pleasures to be had on the beach! The island is not as commercialised as many others in the Canaries, people tend to come for the beaches and the relative peace and quiet….or the super fit for the joy of wave sailing.
It’s an extraordinary stark island, but totally unique with it’s own special grandeur. Wonderful evening skies that send patterns of mauve and cerise across the mountains.
The two main resorts are Jandia and Corralejo with their impressive sand dunes. Between these are a few sights worth seeing (not as many as on other Islands), but as already mentioned, you come here for the beaches.
It’s a naturist paradise. There are 125 miles of beaches around the island and naturism is accepted all over the island, but with so much beach area available it’s usually on the quieter ones, away from general family holiday makers.
We stayed in the Jandia area. On the coach ride to our Hotel we had time to survey the island. Fuerteventura’s landscape is stark - not bleak. The mountains are softer in colour than those on Tenerife and Lanzarote, mellowed by sand, and the shadows made by sun and clouds drifting over them paint amazing changes in light, shade and colour - wonderful if you’re an artist. The first drop off was at the ‘Hotel Gorriones’ and we could see beyond it to, what looked like a great stretch of sand. Onto our Hotel (the Fuerteventura Princess), which was superb. The hotel has several swimming pools, but not being ‘pool people’ we headed for the beach.
The steps down from the Hotel grounds took us to beautiful golden sand. In front of us was the usual set-up of sun loungers, but no naturists, So we ‘recky’d’ both ends of the beach, and yes, there were naturists around - not too many, but enough to make us realise it was acceptable here. What was amusing when we first saw them were rings of large stones which had been piled into circles about three foot high giving enough room for a couple of people to lay inside them! The following morning we ventured on to the beach with sun cream, towels and books for a relaxing day in the sun. We then realised why people built the stone shelters! A nice, gentle warm breeze blowing all day is what is needed to enable one to lay under the rays of the sun in comfort. But a force 9 wind is not too pleasant! The naturist ends of the beach get full blast of the wind! Reading was not easy with the wind blowing - I know - being a naturist - you have to be prepared occasionally to endure a little discomfort, but for me this was too much of an ‘Outward Bound’ type of survival experience! Having said that, there were plenty of naturists there who seemed unconcerned about the wind - maybe I’m just bit of a wimp! We used this beach for a couple of days and then hired a car to see what other ‘facilities’ were on offer on the Island.
Our first journey took us to the sand dunes of Corralejo, which are a magnificent sight. Miles and miles of beautiful golden sands with designated naturist areas here, but we didn’t use them as 1) the walk across acres of sand is quite exhausting, 2) there is no natural shade and 3) if the wind got up in this area it could also be uncomfortable. But of course there are masses of naturists who do use, and love the dunes on this part of the Island.
So we journeyed south again, back to our ‘neck’ of the woods and drove about 20 minutes to parked near the Gorriones Hotel and found our way to the beach - unbelievable, superlative, magnificent - are just a few of the adjectives I could use to describe this stretch of sand. It’s about 10 miles long, and when the tide is fully out about 1/2 mile deep, with high spits of sand so it has a slight undulating appearance. But, could you be Naturist? Yes! There are no reserved areas, it’s a totally free for all beach! I’d say the ratio is about 50/50 textile to nude. Because of its size (when the tide is out) there’s masses of room to spread yourselves out and be ‘private’. Your next ‘neighbour could be naked or clad - it didn’t matter - no one batted an eyelid if you were as bare as the day you were born! On our first visit to the beach the tide was out. Sometimes the tide comes in fully, reaching the incline leading to the hotel’s coastal boundary. Occasionally this leaves behind shallow (ankle deep) pools and gullies made by the ebbing going tide that you wade through. This water is beautifully warm and you often see shoals of small fish darting through these areas, waiting for the next high tide to sweep them out to sea. Other days this area would be totally dry and the sand is scrunchy underfoot as the sun bakes the salt into a slightly crusty surface. A word or two about the tides!
As I mentioned it comes right in twice a day, you are - usually- left with the raised spits of sand on which to sit. At these times you are able, if you wish, to leave the beach by wading through the water that is about knee high. However! - don’t be lulled into a false sense of security - as we were! Our last three days became an adventure as we emulated King Canute! Day one, the tide starts coming in - it’s fascinating to watch it slowing seeping behind you filling up the ‘lagoon’, it creeps insidiously in, you can actually hear it as the water slowly laps over the sand which creaks and crackles to accommodate it. Slowly the majority of people left the beach - cowards! The folk who were left (mainly naturist), started to build little fortresses in which to sit and deposit their belongings - we did the same. Fine the tide came in, didn’t quite reach us and went out. Day two, again we build our castles and the tide came in - this day a little higher - it actually swished around our buttresses - but we were safe and dry, although our towels were slightly wet - as the sand beneath us was getting damp. Day three, shored up our defences, it was 12.30 - high tide due at 1.15! In came the tide - it didn’t stop! A wave broke over our ramparts - we stood up clutching our possessions - by this time there were about fifteen people left on ‘our’ sand spit - and there we all stood until 2.30 when the tide went out allowing us to at last sit down. The water only lapped over our feet, but of we had nowhere to go! A couple of people went back to the shore - with bags held over their heads, as they were chest deep in water. It was, as we later found out, a slightly freak high tide - what do they say about mad dogs and Englishmen? A funny experience, a sense of the Dunkirk spirit - it made us a few new friends - and was surprisingly exhausting - you try standing on damp sand for two hours and not be able to move!
If you don’t want to stay at the Gorriones Hotel (on the beach but miles away from everything and everywhere) - but still want to visit the lovely beach without having to hire a car, there is regular bus that will drop you off at the hotel. The bus follows the coast road, so wherever you are staying you can easily reach it.
These are not the only two beaches on Fuerteventura where naturists are ‘tolerated’. It’s accepted all over the island, there are many more for you to discover; including El Cotillo beach on the western coast. Here the white sandy beach stretches for miles, the sea is a bit rough, but the size of the beach ensures that even on a busy day you will have a lot of space for yourself.
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