Kitesurfing on Lanzarote

[MataLeao]

I am going to Lanzarote on a family vacation at the end of february 2020, and would like to get some kiting in. I am an intermediate twintip rider, don't really care too much for waves. We'll be staying in Puerto Del Carmen but will have a car.
Famara in the north of the island seems to be the biggest spot. Do you have any tips in regard to that spot? Are there other nice spots?

[Foil]

I am going to Lanzarote on a family vacation at the end of february 2020, and would like to get some kiting in. I am an intermediate twintip rider, don't really care too much for waves. We'll be staying in Puerto Del Carmen but will have a car.
Famara in the north of the island seems to be the biggest spot. Do you have any tips in regard to that spot? Are there other nice spots?

Famara Is a Ttip playground for sure, only two downsides, maybe three, no, definitely 4.
1- you say you don't care for waves, well you better get some wave practice in before you go, it can get nice waves, not much shore break but you need to get over the first 3 or 4 sets to get outside, and its never flat on the outside if there is wind.
2 -you have to travel over the hill behind the houses and drive on a rough dirt track to get to the beach designated for kitesurfers,
the best beach at Famara is only for surfing, unless you get on very early morning before 9am,or very late in the day when the schools and beach police have gone for beers
3- hi tide wipes out the kite launching area, not great, as you have to bash you feet around in the boulders fringing the length of the kite beach, the surfers get lovely golden sand all the way no matter what the tide is doing
4- the best sailing is of course playing around on the nice big sets rolling in just off the edge of the kite area, surfers don't generally use this area as its a long walk, but the beach police are there to spoil your fun.
apart from Famara the sailing choice is severely limited, playa Honda near the airport works only in the rare sw winds, its mainly N /NE winds around the Canaries.

my best sailing whilst staying there on many holidays was taking the ferry to fuerteventura and sailing at Flag beach.

if you get desperate then you can get a boat ride out near Puerto Del Carmen, many posters up around the beach area telling you who to contact

[Delta99]

I must say that don't particularly appreciate any of the Canary islands for kite surfing. Too choppy and "wavey" for my taste. Flag beach on Fuerteventura also rocky. Sotavento has a nice and long kite beach anyway and once in a while the lagoon fills up with 30 cm or so of sea water. You'll be riding on Lanza but keep expectations low.

[Foil]

I must say that don't particularly appreciate any of the Canary islands for kite surfing. Too choppy and "wavey" for my taste. Flag beach on Fuerteventura also rocky. Sotavento has a nice and long kite beach anyway and once in a while the lagoon fills up with 30 cm or so of sea water. You'll be riding on Lanza but keep expectations low.

all so true.
one reason I decided to change to a foil board, still no use for lanzarote but for flag beach it get you out nearly every day past the rocks at Flag beach and on to the best playground for foiling i have ever been to.

looks like your now booked to go with the family,
which you will enjoy at the water park and beach and runs out in the car exploring, it fantastic for that,
maybe keep expectations low for sailing, and look for the guy with the boat, and book an afternoon with him on a day when the conditions are favourable,

you can sail out from a little beach near the main beach at del carmen but its not great and risky,
only for very good, desperate kite boarders. but I would never get that desperate, pack a big kite, and check the wind forcast before you go to match up your kit just in case its a windy week(Unlikely but it, can happen in Feb)

[mr_daruman]

Though its windy all year, the main season id say is from May to September. Riding size from 7m2 to 12m2.
You should know that Lanzarote = surfing. 75% of kitesurfers are usually on surfboards or foiling.

Famara for me is great because even in peak summer time there is space for everyone and it isnt too crowded.
The inside breaker waves make it difficult to practice or get out, which is good.
The tides makes it a bit hard to launch by yourself, which is good.
The beach police can be anoying at times because of the surfer only area, which is good.
The waves arent perfect silky smooth sets, which is good.
No big resorts close by, which is good.
So a lot less beginers, pro wannabees, and A/holes and a lot more space to enjoy and chill. Riding high tide there is bliss. Almost nobody.

Id recommend you go to Fuerteventura. A lot more twintip friendly points. Personally though I hate Flag beach...Super crowded, weird wind, extremely choppy, rocks...

[MataLeao]

Is the launching area really completely flooded at high tide? Climbing around on rocks as Foil put it doesn't sound great at all. How do people launch and land their kites then?
Which car hire company do you guys usually go for on Lanzarote, and do you pay for some kind of extra insurance to be able to go on that rough dirt track?

[Foil]

Is the launching area really completely flooded at high tide? Climbing around on rocks as Foil put it doesn't sound great at all. How do people launch and land their kites then?
Which car hire company do you guys usually go for on Lanzarote, and do you pay for some kind of extra insurance to be able to go on that rough dirt track?

the beach completely disappears, and the boulders are ankle breakers, however there are a very few tiny ^pathways into the water" made from smaller boulders that some of the guys have tried to make, and back from the beach are small clearings, edged with quite rough cactus plants, sharp bushes, and sharp stones, very rough and totally unsuitable for foil kites, and will certainly risk pinholing a lei kite, tough wave style kites are recommended here, and self landing and launching is not a great idea.

but all that said I have done it and got away with no damage,
but you need to watch others first to get the idea right.
I hired a small tough car with high ground clearance for the ride round the back track to the beach, a small 4x4 would be ideal but expensive, we went for the fiat 500X - small and high with 4 wheel drive,
but have also hired a small opel corsa, super cheap but you need to be very careful on the drive down the hill,especially if its had recent heavy rain which washes away some of the track down.
insurance may not be possible when using off road, even impossible, as its made clear on all the insurance forms I have signed.
as long as your uber careful you should be ok, but if the car is loaded up with family get the heavy ones out to walk if the car is in danger of grounding out.
have a good look and decide your path down, scary the first time down but once you know the track its just fine, but not in a sports car.

[mr_daruman]

Even during high tide you have space to launch, just walk a couple of minutes south towards the surf area were the beach starts to get wider out of the rocks. There is usually no surfers.
The beach patrol is quite understanting of this during high tide and will let you launch your kite as long as you walk back up towards the kite zone. Ive done this dozens of times during summer with no problem.
Also people forget you can also go way up north of the kite area, during high tide there are a few narrow sand bars areas that stick out.

[mr_daruman]

Even during high tide you have space to launch, just walk a couple of minutes south towards the surf area were the beach starts to get wider out of the rocks. There is usually no surfers and very little beachgoers.
The beach patrol is quite understanting of this during high tide and will let you launch your kite as long as you walk back up towards the kite zone. Ive done this dozens of times during summer with no problem.
Also people forget you can also go way up north of the kite area, during high tide there are a few narrow sand bars areas that stick out (this varies every year though as they shift during winter).

[Foil]

Even during high tide you have space to launch, just walk a couple of minutes south towards the surf area were the beach starts to get wider out of the rocks. There is usually no surfers and very little beachgoers.
The beach patrol is quite understanting of this during high tide and will let you launch your kite as long as you walk back up towards the kite zone. Ive done this dozens of times during summer with no problem.
Also people forget you can also go way up north of the kite area, during high tide there are a few narrow sand bars areas that stick out (this varies every year though as they shift during winter).

walking down to the surf board area,
yes a solution, especially if you are good rider on a kitesurf wave board and can stay upwind, me on my Ttip tried this and found it frustrating trying to stay upwind of the flag which divides the 2 zones, ended up just blasting out to sea and hacking as high upwind as possible to keep clear of the wave zone, guys on wave boards made this look easy, not so on a Ttip when not properly powered up,
finding the little sand strips referred to was my favoured solution to the high water problem, it even gave access to some great clean wave spots, but in the op's first post he says he is not really into waves, so my answer would be to only go when the tide is low, set up way way up the beach far away from the flag, and get deep into the kitesurfing zone,
the beach is then big and sandy, no shore break, and you can blast around on the inside shallow water, really good fun, and you will be able to avoid the bigger wave sets to get outside on the open sea, its a solution that many others used to avoid a day of no sailing,
get it right and you can have a blast, and maybe have a few goes at finding a gap in the waves rolling in, as the ride back in is fast and much easier than you might think.