Playa del Médano

Playa del Médano lies at the northern end of the Dunas de Corralejo, the protected dune field that runs south from town along the FV-1. Guides to this coast group it with El Viejo and El Bajo Negro as the wider beaches — the ones closest to Corralejo, where the sand spreads furthest back before the dunes take over.

That combination is what makes it useful. You are minutes from Corralejo's hotels, shops and harbour restaurants, but the beach itself sits inside a natural park: no promenade, no apartment blocks behind the sand, nothing but pale dunes and low scrub. Walk a couple of hundred metres inland and the town disappears entirely.

The sand is pale, fine and golden — the same sand that feeds the dune field the park is named after. It also blows. By mid-afternoon the trade wind picks up, and a windbreak earns its place in the boot.

Look straight out from the beach and three small rock formations sit just offshore. These are the Tres Islas, a landmark familiar enough along this coast that one of the resorts behind the beach carries the name. They are close in, and in late-afternoon light they are the photograph most people take home from this stretch.

Further out, on a clear day, the view opens up: Isla de Lobos, low and volcanic, with Lanzarote behind it. It is the same panorama you get from Grandes Playas and Flag Beach further south along this coast, and part of why the northern beaches feel less enclosed than the resort bays of the south.

Directly behind the sand stand the Riu Oliva Beach Resort and Riu Palace Tres Islas, both built in the 1970s, before the dunes were protected. Their presence means facilities are close at hand at this end of the park — and it also makes this the busiest stretch of the dune coast. Walk south for ten minutes and the numbers thin out fast.

Unlike the exposed beaches of the west coast, this is ordinary, swimmable sand. The water shelves gently, mornings are usually calm, and families treat it as a normal beach day rather than a photo stop. Sea temperatures run around 18-19°C in winter and 21-23°C by late summer. The sections nearest the hotels are the busiest and the best served — sunbeds, showers and a beach bar are a short walk away — while further along the coast there is nothing at all and no supervision. Where flags are flying, go by the flags rather than by how the sea looks.

The trade wind is the constant here. It usually builds through the afternoon and is strongest from May to September, which is exactly why the same coast a few kilometres south is the island's kite and windsurf centre. October to April is calmer, both for swimming and for keeping blown sand out of your lunch.

This is a protected natural park, not a resort beach. Stay on the marked paths and use the official parking; driving or camping on the dunes is prohibited, and everything you bring in — cigarette ends included — goes home with you. The park covers around 2,600 hectares and is also a bird protection area.