Healthy Activities You Can Do In Fuerteventura…

At the Active Retreat the holiday is built around health and fitness activities – all of these are done on Fuerteventura. In fact, the island is perfectly set up for a wide range of healthy activities! With its mixture of terrains, variety of water sports options, yoga studios, gyms and great cycling routes you can easily maintain a healthy lifestyle even when on holiday in Fuerteventura.

Here are a few of the healthy activities you can do in Fuerteventura – all of which we do on the Active Retreat! The images are all from the Active Retreat we hosted in November 2018…

Cycle The North Shore of Fuerteventura

The north shore of Fuerteventura is an (approximately) 20km long off-road track that links Corralejo to the east and El Cotillo to the west. It’s a relatively flat track that varies in surface quality but provides a great challenge for off-road cycling.

One of the great things about cycling the track along the north shore is you get to see the dramatic coastline – some of the best surf breaks on the island are dotted along the north shore. There’s also the off-the-grid fishing village of Machanicho, a tiny place that exists without much interference with the outside world.

Further along the north shore there are beautiful, isolated little coves that provide ample opportunity for sunbathing in relative privacy.

The track surface can be pretty bumpy in places, so be warned!

If you’re into your cycling, the north shore track ride is one of the most fun healthy activities you can do in Fuerteventura!

Climb Calderon Hondo in Lajares

Calderon Hondo is an extinct volcano in Lajares, a small surf village located in the middle of the northern end of Fuerteventura.

It’s not especially high at around 250m/700ft, but the views from the top are mind-blowing! If you look into the volcano you can see the vast, dramatic crater that has formed. There are estimates that say it’s 70m deep – I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s even deeper! There’s a vastness that you just can’t quite comprehend until you see it.

If you look in the opposite direction you can see the entire north shore of Fuerteventura – on a clear day you can see a lot of Lanzarote too. It’s a great vantage point and gives you an insight into the geography of the island. If you walk the entire path it’s probably a good couple of hours worth of activity!

In terms of healthy activities you can do in Fuerteventura, it’s up there with the best of them – certainly the most spectacular!

Enjoy a Yoga Class at the Yogasana

If yoga is your thing, Lajares is home to a fantastic yoga centre known as the yogasana. It’s a purpose-built yurt that has been insulated with wool. The result is internal noise is dramatically reduced, allowing for a deeper, more restful and restorative yoga practice.

On the Active Retreat we do three yoga classes to counteract the higher intensity work we do and our guests love the space. It’s calm and tranquil but offers a lot of health benefits.

They don’t just do restorative yoga practices in the yogasana either – they also offer all kinds of more dynamic, yang-style yoga practices, so if you like your yoga with a little more flow and dynamism, you’ll still be able to enjoy classes to your taste here. Yoga is incredibly popular on the island and there are a lot of world-class teachers on Fuerte.

Take a Surf Lesson

Surfing is an amazing workout – the constant paddling, combined with the balance challenges and explosive paddle sprints to catch waves all add up to create an activity that burns calories like you wouldn’t believe!

On the Active Retreat we do a surf lesson with the guests, so it’s chance for them to learn a new skill, enjoy a new challenge and really throw themselves into a fun water sport whilst under professional supervision. Surfing is addictive – once you’ve experienced the amazing feeling of riding a wave, you’ll want to do it again and again!

Fuerteventura is blessed with world-class, consistent waves and an abundance of surf breaks, so there’s always a spot you’ll be able to surf at.

Here are our Active Retreat guests enjoying a surf lesson in Fuerteventura in November 2018…

Go Stand Up Paddleboarding

The reality is that without specialist coaching or a lot of time to dedicate to learning the skill, surfing isn’t easy. Unless you’re a freak of nature, not many people are going to learn to surf well in the space of an afternoon. That’s where stand up paddling is ideal – the boards are much bigger and more buoyant, so standing on them isn’t a particular challenge.

You can head to Flag Beach and hire the kit. If you’re willing to spend a little more money they’ll even take you over to Isla de Lobos where you can paddle around the small coves and bays. The water over there is crystal clear and if the conditions are in your favour, flat calm. There’s even flying fish that you may be able to see, which is an amazing sight!

In terms of a workout, it’s a great upper body and core workout. It’s a nice change from most too, because it’s a much more gentle and relaxed effort, but includes a lot of rotational strength work which is something a lot of people neglect.

It’s a workout that you can’t replace in many other places, so why not enjoy it as one of the healthy activities you can do in Fuerteventura?