If you are considering a family vacation in the Canary Islands, Fuerteventura should be high on your list. With smashing beaches with safe, shallow waters, thrilling water activities, and intriguing volcanic rock formations, there are a whole lot of fun things to do in Fuerteventura with kids of all ages.
In addition to being an island full of exciting activities, the year-round warm climate and more than 300 days a year of sun is reason enough to choose this Canary island as your next vacation destination.
Read on to find out the best things to do in Fuerteventura with kids for a fun family vacation.
Things to Do in Fuerteventura with Kids
Watch Animals at Oasis Wildlife Fuerteventura Zoo
Every child loves animals, so what is better than to visit one of the Canary Islands’ biggest zoos and botanical gardens? Oasis Wildlife Fuerteventura Zoo is a wonderful place for the whole family to learn more about the animal kingdom and experience exotic species like elephants, lemurs, and giraffes.
For the most adventurous kids, camel rides through the desert are an option. These adventures include an educational session about the importance of conservation. Other experiences in the zoo include meetings with lemurs, swimming with sea lions, and observations of giraffes and elephants.
All the zoo’s activities include education about the species and their conservation to promote a positive impact on the planet and wildlife.
Besides meeting a whole bunch of amazing creatures from the animal kingdom you can explore a whole lot of different plants. More than 80 unique species of plants endemic to Fuerteventura – whereof most of them are threatened species with only a few of them surviving – are planted on an area of 6 hectares.
A tour of the area can be performed with a specialist botanist that will tell you everything you want to know about the impressive work done there. This is a fun educational tour where the kids will love the different shaped plants along the route.
Explore Corralejo Natural Park
The undeniable number one of things to do in Corralejo for families is a trip to the famous Natural Dune Park. Spanning across 26 km² the Corralejo sand dunes are the park’s biggest attraction and certainly the most fun place for the kids to play around. Not surprisingly, these are the largest sand dunes on the archipelago and a true Canary Islands bucket list adventure.
The white sanded dunes spill straight onto the beach protecting crystal clear water where you can swim and cool down on a hot day. However, the waters can be ripply, so make sure you keep an eye on the youngest ones.
The natural park is only a 10-minute drive from Corralejo which makes for a first-class base for families in Fuerteventura.
If you travel in November, make sure you do not miss out on the epic international kite festival held in the park where your kids will be mesmerized by the colorful kites circling above the dunes. Get ready for a whopping week of fun, live music, and bouncy castles to complement the kite battles happening above your head.
Make a Splash at Corralejo’s Water Park
Corralejo Water Park invites for splashing fun for the whole family with 25000 square meters of water slides, wave pools, kamizakes, a river, and so much more.
When you visit Fuerteventura with children of different ages, they are all guaranteed to have fun and burn a whole lot of energy during a day in the water park.
For the younger children, there is also a children club with fun activities like face painting, board games, drawing, and balloon art to keep them occupied.
The park also offers free parasols and sunbeds so that you can relax and keep your belongings in one place while the kids run around.
You find everything you need onsite, like restaurants and bars so you can stay hydrated and know that your kids do not get hungry.
Note that Corralejo Water Park is closed during the winter months, so if you want to secure a day out splashing around in the pools and slip down the most daring slides, you will have to plan your vacation for the summer months.
Discover Ajuy Caves
One of the most exciting places to go in Fuerteventura with kids are the millions of years old Ajuy caves. Carved out on a fossiled beach, this is the most ancient site on the island.
The beach dates back 4 million years, but some of the rocks there might be more than 70 million years old surfacing from the deepest depths of the earth when a volcanic eruption pushed them 3000 meters up to the sea surface creating the island of Fuerteventura.
You can imagine this is an incredible opportunity for the kids to look for fossils and their imaginations will go wild.
There is a 500-meter long trail from Ajuy beach to the caves where you can see Fuerteventura’s oldest fossil dunes and modest blow holes.
If you visit in summer, you can also set off some time for a swim at the local beach.
Visit Morro Jable
Morro Jable is a lovely town to visit in Fuerteventura with kids. Among the most unique things to do in Morro Jable is the Sea Turtle Nursery where you can learn about the conservation and reintroduction program of Loggerhead turtles. The kids will love to see the turtles that are getting prepared to be released into the wild again.
You can also spend time on the vast Playa del Matorral beach where kids can splash around in the water and build sand castles.
On the tip of the beach, you can reach the 60-meter tall Morro Jable Lighthouse , which has led sailors to safety since 1991. You can reach it at the end of a wooden boardwalk that crosses the dunes.
Not far from the lighthouse, you can see the skeleton of a sperm whale which is always a hit with the kids. To top it off, there are also a couple of playgrounds nearby where the children can run off the last bit of energy for the day. Plus, there is a big chance that you’ll be also able to see wild green parakeets flying around and waiting for food in the area.
See the Wild Chipmunks
One of the most fun and cute things in Fuerteventura is to spot wild chipmunks. More rightly, they are Barbary Ground Squirrels. The species were introduced to the Canary Islands from Algerie and Morocco back in the 1960s and are now the most commonly spotted animals in Fuerteventura.
In fact, chances are, that if you have already explored any of the above mentioned attractions and tourist sites, you have already come across a number of these cute little fellows.
The chipmunks are widely spotted across the islands, including places like Corralejo, Ajuy caves, and Morro Jable. A good spot to see them is on a trail on the right side passing the Mercadona supermarket in Corralejo.
Though these creatures are fairly friendly and safe to be around, make sure you and your children treat them with respect and avoid feeding them or trying to catch them or run after them. These are acts that can put the animals in danger in many different ways.
Visit the Popcorn Beach
Who has kids that would jump for joy when telling them they are going to popcorn beach?
The waters of Playa del Bajo de la Burra, AKA popcorn beach, are full of a type of red coralline algae called rhodoliths. When the algae die, it turns white. The waves then flush the dead algae up on the beach and it looks exactly like popcorn covering the entire beach.
Opposed to real popcorn, the algae are hard to walk on, so your kids will not damage them when walking on the beach, but they might damage their little feet unless they wear shoes. Keep that in mind before you let them rush down to see the most unique beach in Fuerteventura.
Note that the rhodoliths are protected and it is against the law to take them away from the beach. Offenders will be penalized and fined so make sure you explain the importance of “leave no trace” and not taking anything home from nature to your kids when going there.
Spend a Day in El Cotillo
Another incredibly beautiful and kid-friendly place to visit in Fuerteventura is the enchanting coastal town of El Cotillo on the northeast of the island. The coastline is lined with small, white-sanded coves with calm waters perfect for taking children for a day out.
The most famous is the La Concha beach where the horseshoe-shaped reef helps to avoid rough waves making it a great place for children. You will also see small handmade circular walls dotted all over the beach – that’s the protection from the wind which can get quite strong on the island.
Compared to other towns in Fuerteventura, El Cotillo is filled with a complacent atmosphere and is a great place to spend the day after a few active days in the zoo and the water park.
There are restaurants in the whitewashed town where you can enjoy a lovely lunch if you plan on moving on after the kids have spent the morning playing in the water. But there are also beach bars serving food if you plan on spending the whole day at the beach.
Author Bio:
Jovita is a writer and photographer who fell in love with the Canary Islands after spending a year in Tenerife with her family a few years ago. Fast forward to today, she has visited all eight islands and is sharing her experience at Enjoy Canary Islands.
Her mission is to help others plan their trips to the islands by providing detailed and well-researched information on her website.