Lanzarote

Although Passat winds hit Lanzarote first, they don’t usually get as strong here. This island owes its fine reputation more to a few first-class breaks and a beautiful landscape. Upon seeing its bizarre craters and black lava-fields you’ll wonder if it’s just the sun heating the surface ... or whether it ever really cooled down. In fact, the Timanfaya National Park restaurant serves chicken drumsticks and fish simply grilled over an open crack in the rocks; warm feet at no extra charge. Add to the spectacular landscape a mostly traditional building style, which the island owes to the insistent influence of the Spanish artist, sculptor and architect César Manrique (1919-1992). Only in Costa Teguise you’ll find a few ‘bed-bunkers’, and straight in front are two of the island’s most popular spots – Las Cucharas and Los Charcos. Not far from there, it’s a different world in Matagorda. Californian-style mansions create the backdrop behind wide beaches for relaxed freeride sessions. And only a few miles north is a solitary moonscape of black lava and green cacti towards the picture-perfect point-break of Jameos del Agua. Follow the narrow winding road high up into the Mirador del Rio, gaze down the steep coast to the vast sandy bay of Famara and the passage to Isla Graciosa – you can’t help but succumb to the magic of Lanzarote. Sadly, the Passat’s northerly influence ends here; the world-class breaks on the west coast are mainly reserved for surfers.