The resort of Corralejo is one I would definitely like to visit again. We love the winter sunshine. I expect it's quite different in summer. It was plenty warm enough for sunbathing and swimming in the sea. Sometimes it was a bit breezy. Of course it was cooler in the evenings but we had only two cloudy days and no rain.
We were staying on Avenida Grandes Playas about 10 mins walk from the main drag where the shops/bars etc started and about another 8 mins from the start of the Old Town. This was full of character and there were some fantastic restaurants. (see the Restaurant review topic)
We found the 2 large supermarkets in the Old Town where the locals go were by far the cheapest (Hyperdino and Eurospar). The wine was unbelievably cheap! Plenty of choice for fresh fish/meat/sausages if you are having a barbie. They also did spit roast chickens and ready prepared salads and had fresh crusty bread. Many of the smaller supermarkest also did fresh bread which was great for making your own sarnies (chorizo and cheese) yummy. You can also buy vacuum packed spanish tortillas, great for a snack.
Oh my God I feel hungry after all that food! Well what about the bars? We loved the Rock Island Bar. Live acoustic music every night. There were no backing tracks or anything. The atmosphere was fun and relaxed. Eric at Imagine was good but a bit too far up his own backside we thought. There are Karaoke bars, quizzes and all sorts.
Well the beaches were super too. Such a choice of different types - town beaches with snackbars, the sand dune beaches outside town, all lovely. Plenty of watersports to try/watch out at flag beach. Our favourite beach was between the 2 RIU hotels. Nice and easy to get in and out of the sea, sunbeds if you wanted them, volleyball, snackbar. The sea is rough some days and the red flags are flying with coast-guard patrols.
We visited El Cotillo where there are surfing beaches to the left of the village and lagoons to the right where the snorkelling was good. There are a lot of nudies about though as there are on flag beach. We also visited Caleta de Fuste where there is a lovely sandy bay with shallow water and great sand. Sunbeds were €9 for 2 beds and 1 brolly.
In Corralejo there is bike hire, diving, snorkelling and a variety of boat trips including ferries to Lanzarote and Lobos.
One of the best things about visiting in March was that although some of the restaurants/shops closed early there was always plenty of free parking available for the old town or beaches. We had sunny weather nearly all week and although the sea felt cold at first it was fine once you were in.
As we were not with a tour operator as such I had pre-booked 2 cars on the internet with Auto-Reisen,. I would not recommend them. The process took an age at the airport. We had booked 2 group C cars and were given a Corsa which was fine (but group B I thought) and a Citroen C3 (also group B I thought ). However we were too fed-up to complain by then. The Citroen (nicknamed ' sxxtroen' by my son-in-law) was the most clapped out thing. One windscreen wiper had no rubber on and the hatchback thing rattled all the week. I know we should have complained but we would have lost half a days' holiday if we had taken them back to the airport. At least they didn't break down. Petrol was cheap at only 74 cents a litre.
Enjoy!
