SteveLying just to the North of Lanzarote is another small Canary Island, so we thought we’d check it out. We planned an amazing day trip to La Graciosa at pretty short notice during one of our holidays to Lanzarote.
Getting to Órzola first
We’ve always based ourselves in Puerto del Carmen when we visit Lanzarote. Being the largest resort, there was no shortage of hire car companies to pick from. We booked a car the day before and collected it as soon as the hire car offices opened the next morning.
In order to get to La Graciosa, we first had to drive to a small village on the northern tip of Lanzarote called Órzola. It is a 30-mile journey on some fast roads to Órzola, and at just after 8am the roads were pretty quiet. I say quiet, there was still plenty of tourist coaches on them!
Órzola is a small place, and we found the makeshift car park for ferry customers easily. There was also plenty of street parking. Our plan was to grab a quick bite to eat from a local café and then jump on a ferry to La Graciosa. There are two ferry companies operating the route between Órzola and La Graciosa. We bought a return ticket from one of the ticket offices and sat down for a quick snack. At the time of writing, a return ticket costs €26 per person. You can find details of current sailings here from the ferry company we booked with.
The Ferry
There was no way we were going to make the 8am ferry, but we had plenty of time to catch the one that departed at 10am. This one was fully booked, mostly with pre-booked coach tours that arrived just after we boarded. The journey itself is only 3.8 miles and takes just 25 minutes. Being a nice day, we took root on the top deck in the sun.
It’s not exactly a fast ferry, more like a pleasure boat trip. The ferry had toilets on board as well as WIFI. In no time at all we were docking at Caleta del Sebo on La Graciosa. Most of the journey time was actually spent manoeuvering in and out of the harbours, as it is such a short distance away. En route we had a great view of the Famara cliffs and Mirador del Rio, which we had visited on a previous trip.
La Graciosa
I’ll be honest, we didn’t know too much about La Graciosa before we travelled there. We knew that it was a pretty sparse island, but we did have a bit of an idea of what we planned to do when we got there. It turned out there are only dirt roads and tracks on La Graciosa. Caleta del Sebo was the main village on the island, and probably the only one as La Graciosa is so small.
The island itself is only 5 miles x 2.5 miles in size, and has well under 1,000 people living there. We didn’t see any cars, except for a handful of jeeps used to ferry tourists about the island. Like Lanzarote, there are no high rise buildings and all of them are painted white.
We had a bit of a nosey around Caleta del Sebo after we got off the ferry. There were a few cafes, a shop, an ATM and some bike hire shops. Once we had stocked up on water, we went off to hire a couple of mountain bikes. Our plan was to cycle across the island to a beach we had read about.
Caleta del Sebo seemed busier than I expected, and I could see why. It was very pretty, quaint and generally unspoiled landscape. Perfect for exploring. We were glad we didn’t hang around too long before renting the bikes, as most had already been rented out from the shop we visited. Bizarrely, the shop owner told us that she was closing at lunchtime for the day, and we should just leave our bikes by the side of the shop when we had finished with them. They are a trusting bunch in La Graciosa, but then again what else are you going to do with the bike? I can’t remember the rental cost, but I think it was about €10 per bike.
Cycling across the island
Our plan was to bike across the island, and past some dormant volcanoes. We’d heard about a beach that was supposed to be stunning on the north west corner of La Graciosa called Playa de las Conchas.
From Caleta del Sebo it’s just over a 3-mile cycle to Playa de las Conchas. Once we had left the village behind us we found some wide tracks made up of sand and stones that ran through the island. There was the odd signpost along the way, but it was pretty easy to navigate being such a small island. All of that said, we travelled between some extinct volcanoes which involved some tough hills for us novice bikers!
It was a really hot summer’s day, so we were glad to have brought some bottles of water with us. On our ride we saw a few other cyclists making a similar journey, as well as some walkers. We saw some other trails going off in different directions. These led to other parts of the island and other beaches.
Playa de las Conchas
After half an hour or so, we found ourselves at Playa de las Conchas. Before we headed to the beach we left our bikes at a wooden bike rack locked up together. I was amazed at just how many other bikes were left there, and guessed that the beach was sought after by others.
The beach was absolutely stunning. Perfect sand (if there is such a thing), crystal clear warm water, and not a cloud in the sky!
Luckily we had brought a rucksack with us with the bare essentials for the beach. Along with everyone else, we set our towels down on the beach and sat down to relax after the bike ride.
Now as inviting as this beach appeared, it can be quite dangerous. It is a red flag beach with no lifeguard. The currents in the sea can be very strong, and others have fallen foul of this in the past. There are no facilities on the beach. It really is remote, with no sun loungers, toilets, bars or anything. We didn’t even see a rubbish bin. All of that said, it was a brilliant reward after the bike ride.
Heading back to Caleta del Sebo
After we’d had a bit of a chill on the beach, we decided to head back to Caleta del Sebo. The bike ride back was a bit more interesting this time, as oddly there seems to be more downhill bits. On the final leg down towards Caleta del Sebo, I nearly came a cropper as I got carried away with going as fast as possible down a hill. I had forgotten the tracks are partially sandy, and in many places there are deep sand ruts and drifts covering the track. My bike wheel hit one of these at speed, and I needed super human powers to avoid a big sandy crash! Motto of the story, take your time and be careful!
Once we dropped off our bikes by the side of the rental shop, we headed to the small beach at Caleta del Sebo for an ice cream and a swim. There are no currents here, and the water is so calm it can be mistaken for a lake.
After a lazy break we decided we’d had our fill of sun, and headed back to board the ferry. As lovely as La Graciosa was, there is no shade on the island unless you have a table with parasol outside a café. Besides, we wanted to visit another hidden beach once back in Lanzarote.
We caught the mid-afternoon ferry back to Órzola. The ferry seemed just as busy but we still managed to grab a seat outside on the top deck – those are the rules! It was still blazing hot, but the breeze as we sailed along took the edge off.
Back to Puerto del Carmen
Once we arrived back in Órzola we grabbed our car and headed back south. Just outside of Órzola we stopped off for a while at a hidden beach we’d discovered on a previous trip. You can read more about the beach on this post.
We arrived back in Puerto del Carmen just in time for a shower and a change of clothes before dinner and drinks in the evening. All in all, we had an amazing day trip to La Graciosa. The day had a bit of everything. The best part was doing it all our own way, on our own timetable. Would you consider a trip to La Graciosa?
This looks like so much fun! I’m glad you guys had a great time. The beach is beautiful, I don’t know if I’d ever been able to leave.
Thank you! It is a lovely beach, and worth the effort to get there.