Imagine packing your beach bag, driving out to the coast, and arriving only to find a wall of sunloungers, noisy beach bars, and no place to lay your towel. While the famous resort coasts of Puerto del Carmen and Playa Blanca are stunning, they often come with massive tourist crowds that disrupt a peaceful getaway. If you want to escape the lounge-chair traffic and experience the island’s raw, volcanic beauty in peace, you have to get off the beaten track. In this guide, we break down what are the best uncrowded beaches in Lanzarote where you can find complete tranquility.
In addition to the crowds, many assume Lanzarote is an island with only rocky beaches, so thinking there are not any sandy beaches. Well, let us debug this myth as well.
Even though Lanzarote is a lava island, there are some of the most beautiful sandy beaches in the Canary Islands.
Also, if you want to check what to do in lanzarote except of visiting its finest beaches,I wrote an blog post Best things to do in Lanzarote, check it out.
Playa de La Cera (Papagayo Coast)
Playa Blanca is one of the island’s most popular spots. Therefore if you want to enjoy a quiet beach day, you need to go a bit further than main beaches.
Although Playa Dorada, Flamingo Beach are stunning and towards end of the day provide nice atmosphere, they get crowded and noisy thanks to the beach bars.
So if you search for tranquility, you definitely heard about Papagayo Beach. This places offers secluded experience. It’s a set of stunning coves within the natural reserve of Los Ajaches. The turquoise water and rugged cliffs make it perfect for snorkelling and exploring.
While still less crowded than the main beaches, as it grew popular, you can experience unpleasant surprise of no space when arriving.
Therefore, my recommendation is Playa De La Cera. The same unpaved, dirt road, only one turn earlier and you will have half of the crowds, but the same beauty as on Papagayo.
It tops the list of stunning beaches in Lanzarote with its crescent-shaped golden sand and crystal-clear waters, offering a dreamy escape for everyone craving peace and tranquility. It reminds me of El Cotillo cliffs on Fuerteventura.
Snorkelling is a must here. It’s like swimming in a natural aquarium. What I love about Papagayo beach is that this is one of the view spots you can camp on Lanzarote with your van, or tent.
Lastly, the sunsets are one of the best ones in whole Lanzarote.
Insider tip: I’m sure you’ve seen either of those two beaches in some pictures related to Lanzarote. Very beautiful, yet very remote and hard to get to. With our rental car, which wasn’t 4×4 we were not allowed to enter the road leading to the beach, so we opted for a bike and it was challenging even for more advanced bikers.
If you are renting car, many companies will warn you not to enter this unpaved road. Unless, 4×4 car. So, you have options to rent a small car and park it at the last hotel and walk the rest towards the beach on foot (around 1 hour). Rent the bigger car, that is allowed on unpaved roads. The last option, this one is what we did, rent a bike and do the slightly adventurous bike ride(it was around 45 minutes for us)
Second tip, there is only one restaurant, which gets very busy during high peak lunch and dinner times, so you might spend a lot of time to only get the spot. My advice therefore, pack some lunch in cooling bag, and don’t bother queuing for an hour.
Playa Bastian, Hidden Gem Next to Big Resorts in Costa Teguise
Costa Teguise is where you find a delightful blend of wind and waves, attracting both surfers and sun-seekers to its pristine shores. This coastal area boasts a variety of beaches, each with its unique charm and character.
It offers totally different vibe compared to Playa Blanca or Playa Carmen.
Very laid back and with wide open space makes it more attractive for those who prefer to avoid crowds. What you need to take in consideration is the bigger wind. Hence, the water sports enthusiasts.
At the same time, it isn’t as windy as on Fuerteventura.
The best hidden spot for me was Playa Bastian. We stayed here during extended Christmas holiday and unplanned New Years Eva celebration, and I was really amazed that while all the other beaches were always full, this one was always empty.
The only picture I have from my morning stretching, even though the visibility is not the best, you can see the big space available for you.
Located just 5 minutes walk from Playa el Jabillo, downhill of a restaurant, I fell in love with this hidden spot. It offers plenty of sand area public toilets, and one of the best snorkelling spots on entire island. Vicinity of supermarkets, restaurants, and hotels makes this spot as an ideal starting base for your stay in Lanzarote.
Moreover, this beach is super easily accessible from the airport, or other parts of the island.
Insider tip: This is the only beach that’s easily accessible by public transport. I found the buses in Lanzarote operating very well. Bus number 3 goes from Arrecife to Playa Bastian and the ride is 15 minutes. Contrary to Fuerteventura, you can also pay with card, and the schedule provides also more frequent departures.
And even though its bigger, and doesn’t belong to best uncrowded beaches in Lanzarote, as it can get more crowded, I found Las Cucharas beach still nicely relaxing.
It is ideal for windsurfing. The steady winds and professional surf schools make it a hotspot for both beginners and seasoned windsurfers.
As this beach is huge in terms of size (maybe the biggest on the Island) there are plenty of bars, cafes, and restaurants. This makes it a great fit for a perfect beach day!
My personal experience with Bastian and warning for you: I love snorkelling here. The marine life is very rich. But, this side of the beach is often wavy. I snorkelled there after New Years eve celebration and had to take flight the same day. Not sure If it was because of the waves or the remains alcohol (or both), but after this experience, I promised myself to never snorkel on the same day as taking flight. The worst flight ever.
Playa de Las Conchas: The Wild Paradise
Even though La Graciosa is another island, it officially belongs to Lanzarote!
It is an Island only 30 minutes ferry ride from Orzola and it offers stunning beaches.
In my opinion, there are some of the most beautiful beaches in whole Canaries!
First on the list is Playa de las Conchas. Reaching it, you will do best with a bike ride as La Graciosa is car-free island. Second option is walking, but if you wna to visit other sides of the island, biking would safe you time and energy needed for the exploration. It features spectacular golden sands against the red volcanic backdrop of Montaña Clara.
The beach itself is Carribbean-like paradise. We visited it in December 2023, and there were almost no people. Big sandy surface, amazing views and serenity. Pure enjoyment.
Insider tip: Thanks to its strong and dangerous current, it is prohibited to swim here. Please, take this seriously and don’t try your luck. I have heard many stories when people just underestimated their abilites and never returned. If you have energy and love hiking, coming your trip with tour on the top of the Montaña Clara. Spectacular views guaranteed.
Playa de La Francesa: Secret Heaven in La Graciosa
Playa Francesa is located on the side of the ferry port and can be reached in less than 30 minutes by foot, from the port!
While Playa de las Conchas has dangerously strong currents, Playa de la Francesa is a completely calm, turquoise lagoon on the south coast. It feels like an untouched Caribbean beach but remains incredibly peaceful. Its shape, size and position perfectly fits into top 4 best uncrowded beaches in Lanzarote.
We spent there our first evening and the sunset looked like from a different planet. Have a look by yourself! Same beach, one picture was taken just before sunset and the second one hour after it.
Insider Tip: Arriving to La Graciosa from Orzola is with ferry that offers stunning views of the neighbouring mountains. While it is an enjoyable ride, it can get a bit bumpy because of the strong sea, so be prepared. The best bike rental in La Graciosa is Civitatis.com.
Some information on La Graciosa yet: The island is super small and with bike it can be visited in two days day for a full experience or one day for half of its main attractions. The island is as remote, beautifully unique, and local as it gets. No cars are allowed here.
The hospitality of the people, food, and scenery offer a unique, and very secluded experience.
What are the 4 Best Uncrowded Beaches in Lanzarote and What I would do differently?
I hope you appreciate we debugged two myths in my blog posts. One being that there are not sandy beaches on Lanzarote. In fact, from the beaches I mentioned, all of them are sandy.
People often thing Lanzarote is full of retired British, German or Dutch people drinking beer and eating crappy happy hour food. While this can be partly true in sides around Playa Blanca, or Playa Carmen, I hope I showed you the other side of the Lanzarote, and its wilder site.
Places like Papagayo beach, Famara Beach, Las Cucharas, Playa Bastia or the entire La Graciosa offer plenty of space for relaxing beach day on sandy beach, without big crowds.
So what I would do differently would be not much, maybe only:
- Visiting La Graciosa during the first time and not waiting until the third time. Which was for us, two years later.
- Also renting a room in La Graciosa, rather than overpriced Booking.com accommodation that would fit 6 people. This is hard to avoid when coming for the first time, as these rooms aren’t offered on Booking or Airbnb. So, in case you plane to stay in La Graciosa at least 2 nights,(what you absolutely should), search for accommodation with local restaurant owners. We got recommended Casa Enriqueta. They have apparently sea view double room for 60 €. And single for half price.
- Staying at least two nights in La Graciosa, instead of one we stayed in.
- Sleeping directly at Papagayo beach, rather than biking back to Playa Blanca. Reason one, the bike ride can feel exhausting and can ruin great relaxed feeling you got after whole day relaxing on the beach. Second reason, the wilderness is just much better to sleep in, than hotel or apartment.
I hope you enjoyed my guide on finding the best uncrowded beaches in Lanzarote. If you want to read more about this unique island, click below for other articles on my site.
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