La Graciosa in summer

Shallow lagoon Bahia de Salino filling with water in high tide

Ok, with all the excitement of the wildfire over, the academic year has started for real, and I feasted my (and, hopefully, your) eyes on the rare sight of freshwater stream on Gran Canaria, I would like to return to our short stay on Lanzarote.

On a ferry back 

We went there with a specific aim in mind — to have a day trip to La Graciosa, the smallest of inhabited Canary Islands. The island is administratively a part of the Teguise municipality of Lanzarote, a fact that apparently vexes its inhabitants. At least from time to time — I think they are way too relaxed and they can’t dedicate enough energy to staying vexed for very long.

Rock bar that forms the outer Barrier of Bahia del Salado lagoon

Anyway. La Graciosa is only reachable by sea. I am not sure if there is a provision for a helicopter lift in case, for example, of medical emergencies, but even if this is the case, air transfers are not available to tourists. So boat it was. There are at least two types of boats going between Orzola village on the north east of Lanzarote and the capital of La Graciosa — the tiny, largely unpaved not-even-two-horse village Caleta del Sebo. The bigger, more regular ferry belongs to Lineas Romero, the other one positioning themselves more as an excursion vessels*, and probably charging accordingly.**

Farión de Afuera, “Farer islet”, as seen from the boat. Riscos de Famara on Lanzarote to the left.

The regular boat goes off to La Graciosa and back every hour between 10am and 20pm (in summer), except during siesta when they have longer breaks, see the schedule here.

The transfer is short, but could be a bit rough — as it was in our case. Occasionally, they cancel the ferry due to particularly bad sea, but don’t worry about getting stuck on La Graciosa — they will either refuse to sell you the tickets if there is such a possibility or warn you about it. Going from Orzola, we started to sway alarmingly once out of the harbour, and the waves continued to hit us heavily till the moment we went around Fariones (farión meaning a small rocky islet close to a coast). Once into El Río the waves practically stopped. El Río means The River and is a sea strait between Lanzarote and La Graciosa, so called because of the strong constant current running through it.

See the dust trails to the right? Left by two 4x4

Once on La Graciosa, time slowed down (even more). Well, maybe if it was in winter it would have stopped completely. There are no paved roads on the island, and no “normal” cars. You can walk, go on a bike (which can be rented) or go on one of the 4x4 in which they do the excursions on sand-covered tracks. My original idea was to have a good long walk, but we came there in the middle of a heatwave, so it was clear the walk wasn’t a happening thing.

Fisherman on the bar of Bahia de Salino lagoon

Now, when you read about La Graciosa, you probably imagine a paradise island escape, with whole beaches all to yourself and not a car exhaust in view. I know I did. Unhappily, in summer, during school hols, this is not the case. The aforementioned 4x4s, although probably very few in number, keep running between Caleta del Sebo and Playa la Francesa, the nearest coved beach. The distance is short, so while we walked, the same small group of vehicles made the trip several times, blighting very nearly every single pic I took there. There was a “parking” for bicycles next to Playa la Francesa. There were a few leisure crafts in the cove, something I can happily live with, but, there was also a large pink (pink, Carl!) inflatable waterslide floating there, something I am a lot less happy about, to put it mildly. I am not sure what is the situation on other beaches, we didn’t reach there. Hopefully, when you can walk more, you can finally escape the holidaying crowds, but I can’t confirm or deny this.

Not sure what this plant was originally, now it looks like sand Cthulhu.

Walking on La Graciosa is perfectly doable, with a couple of things to keep in mind — there is a lot of sand, and there is no shade at all. So basically, not recommendable in summer. I don’t know why I even though it would be a good idea. I must have forgotten my Fuerteventura experiences, which are very similar. La Graciosa looks like a very small copy of Fuerteventura, what with the sand and the eroded volcano craters.

Timur walked just to humour me.

Along the coast between Caleta del Sebo and Playa la Francesa there is a sandy strip, almost completely covered by water in high tide. In summer there are quite a few people there, too, but in winter probably not so many, if anybody at all.

The water is beautifully transparent

Lanzarote on the other side of El Rio provides a dramatic backdrop.

The tops of the cliffs on Lanzarote are covered by clouds. Sky over La Graciosa was completely clear.

To summarize — it is a cute little island to visit. If at all possible, best time for a visit is out of school holidays season. There are a lot of us everywhere, in search of peace and quiet, especially in summer. I can’t really blame local entrepreneurs for trying to make some money, nor can I blame people with kids for wanting to entertain their progeny. Still, I find myself wanting to blame somebody for ruining a prior image of the island in my head. I guess I must blame myself then.

Pictures from La Graciosa on Shutterstock — here

Enjoy :)

* I think the “other” boats were of the glass-bottom kind. If you haven’t been on one of those before, I would like to warn you that they are rubbish when used as a transfer vessel. Fish don’t come close to a moving boat, so there is nothing to see during the ride. Only in the harbour or when stationery, there is a chance of seeing something, but even so, you’d be better off just looking into the water from the pier or overboard.

** Speaking of charging. If you are a resident in Canary Islands, don’t forget the proof of your residency. Given that you are reading this post in English, you probably don’t look and/or talk like a local. In the queue for the tickets, I first observed one of the cashiers issuing the “resident” tickets to a couple of young Spanish guys after simply asking them “are you from here?” and NOT asking for any proof, while with us she started to prepare the tickets for the full “non-resident” price without bothering to ask anything. When I told her we are residents, she DID ask for a proof. Having the papers meant I had to pay 13 euros for tw o day returns (vs 52 full price, yes, sir, 75% discount)