Running from UK autumn blues to Canary Islands

Hard to say which out of Canary Islands is my favourite. Personally i have been most to Tenerife and find that it has great balance of a nice touristic destination combined with good wave-riding at the pier. At the negative side you have the sand which makes your kites a bit too dirty. I used to have white core kites at the time and they turned slowly but surely into brownish core kites.. Also there are no great hotels in El Medano, of course it compensates with a great variety of airbnb options, but sometimes there is a mood to stay in hotel - you know. 

In this post I'll try to dig more into the comparison of my kite experience at those lovely three islands. I have only been to Tenerife, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote. Heard that Gran Canaria is also a must-visit. Probably next time, fingers crossed!

→ Flights. The one to start of is the flight availability. There are plenty of Ryanair and Easyjet options from London, they are not bad, but get ready to pay around 100 pounds for the kite bag. Also I find confusing the requirement to pack the bag under 20kg. It is difficult. Given that i want normally to take twin tip, kite surfboard, normal surfboard, 2-3 kites, harness and wetsuit (better two). Well, the trick i use is to take the kite backpack in a hold luggage, sometimes i put extra kite or even kite with a bar there. Sometimes i have to choose if a trip is for freestyle with just a twin tip (my kinda version of freestyle) and big air (shall we have a discipline of average air? given that 20meters jump wont even take you to top 700 kiters worldwide by WOO). Or just a wave trip, like the one i just had to Lanzarote where I took my kitesurfboard and a normal surfboard. Personally i prefer flying with BA, they give good luggage allowance and I almost never had problems with them. Once they delayed the bag for a month and couple of times damaged the surfboards, but every time they paid well to compensate for that. 

→ Proximity of the kitespot from the airport. Tenerife is clearly a winner with El Medano just a 10 minute short drive from the airport. 

Lanzarote is not bad too, this time I stayed in Lava Beach Hotel which is 7minutes drive from airport. It is a bit far from the Famara beach - around 25-30min, but with east winds the thermal effect kicks in and you can kite on the Las Pocillos bay. Otherwise there are few really nice airbnb options next to Famara beach. I stayed there once, was nice and quiet. Probably best for the strong forecast when you dont want to waste any energy on the commute. 

Fuerteventura is mixed. Of course we have Sotavento and Melia hotel which has an amazing lagoon for practicing freestyle. It is great, eventhough sometimes the wind is funny when it goes over the mountains. Flag beach is a bit closer, so with both you spend under 30minutes for transfer to live in a good proximity to the kite spot.

→ Water conditions. No clear winner for me here, one thing I noticed is that water in Lanzarote is a bit warmer - been kiting with shorts only. Maybe it is me after kiting and surfing in UK all winter, but I have seen some other people surfing with light neoprene options. As for the waves, hard to say where is better. Famara beach is amazing with its length, wideness and beautiful scenery. Some people wont like the absence of cafes or restaurants there. Good thing is that you can kite and surf all in one place. Be mindful about snacks!

El Medano was a bit colder, but great for the waves. Both Tenerife and Fuerteventura are great for learning. I have only done surf lessons at fuerte, but done a lot of waveriding progression when was visiting El Medano. The construction of the beach is so that it is easy for the instructor to observe you (at the pier) and this makes your improvements easier. 

El Medano was a bit colder, but great for the waves. Both Tenerife and Fuerteventura are great for learning. I have only done surf lessons at fuerte, but done a lot of waveriding progression when was visiting El Medano. The construction of the beach is so that it is easy for the instructor to observe you (at the pier) and this makes your improvements easier. 

→ Night life. I am not an expert, but I have seen lots of partying people in Tenerife, fewer in Fuerteventura and almost none in Lanzarote. 

→ Restaurants. Simplier choices closer to kite spots, better off in the more touristic area. 

→ Non kiting activities. I have not been always lucky with the weather when I visited the canary islands. I mean ‘kite-lucky’. In a common sense of a good weather, all the times i have visited there have been sunny weather. So when i had few non-kiting, non-surfing days i just enjoyed the sun. 

→ Car rental is a must in all of the islands. First of all there are things to see around (50 shades of lava). For this one Lanzarote is a winner. The counters are located next to the luggage belts, so you can get your car while waiting for the kite bag and drive straight to the beach! 

Often Canary Islands is the destination where you go for a short trip when UK weather miserability kicks in. So I am always keen on getting the vitamin D and hopefully some endorphins from my riding. This destination has always been a winner for me and I cant recommend enough booking a 3 or 4 day weekends there. 

What is your favourite short term trip destination during the UK winter/autumn blues?