The Ultimate Guide to El Hierro Surf
El Hierro surf is some of the top stuff on Fuerteventura, with an A-frame peak that offers a gnarly left hander for performance riders.
An introduction to El Hierro surf
The breaks of El Hierro are closely guarded by the Fuerteventura elite. There’s a left and a right. Both are sheer quality and the location is downright stunning – think an amphitheatre of a beach with pearly white sands and high cliffs shouldering above the Atlantic on both sides.
Thankfully, Fuerta is the less local of the Canaries, so it’s possible to surf here without getting on the wrong end of the proverbial stick. Just be wary of who’s in the water and perhaps steer clear of the bigger line up days.
Most people who hit the El Hierro surf will stay in either Corralejo (the main tourist resort of the north shores of the island) or El Cotillo (a major hub for surf travelers on the west coast). Both are about 20-30 minutes’ drive away in the car.
You’ll need to get to the uber-cute fishing town of Majanicho first and then veer off onto a dusty coast track around the headland for about three minutes.
We might use affiliate links in this post. Basically, you click em’ and we get a little something from your booking or purchase. They help us keep offering more and more in-depth surf guides to awesome places all around the globe. So, thanks for that!
This guide is just one part of our complete guide to surfing in Fuerteventura
El Hierro at a glance
The good:
- Two fantastic breaks
- One of the best spots in all of Fuerteventura for sure
- Clear water and pretty scenery
The bad:
- Some localism
- You need to drive to get here
What’s in this guide to El Hierro?
Where is El Hierro?
El Hierro is nothing but a small beach on the northern shore of Fuerteventura. To get there, you need to drive via the small fishing town of Majanicho past the urbanization at Origo Mare. You can do that by turning off the main FV-109 and heading north. When you reach the small fishing harbor, take the dusty coast road going west and you should arrive at the spot in about 3-4 minutes.
Oh, and be sure not to confuse El Hierro surf with El Hierro the island, which is the smallest and one of the least traveled in the Canary Islands, although that’s worth a visit too.
One of the main upshots here is that a car hire is a neccessity if you wanna surf El Heirro each day. There are no stays on the beach itself, and only a handful in Majanicho. The good news is that car rentals are cheap as can be in Spain and the Canaries – we recently nailed one for under $400 for 30 days+ by booking through RentalCars, who also happen to offer very nice cancellation policies.
A guide to the El Hierro surf spots
Here’s a look at the surf breaks in El Hierro itself, and some of the other places where you can paddle out in the surrounding region.
Corralejo
We’ve got a whole separate guide to surfing in Corralejo. The town is one of the main hubs of the west coast of Fuerteventura. It’s busy, it’s full of life, and it can sometimes feel a little more like a holiday spot rather than a surf destination.
But a lot of the island’s schools are based here, and it’s the jump-off point for both the Playa Grandes beaches (great for beginners) and Isla Lobos (home to one of the Canaries’ most epic right hand reef breaks).
We’ve got a complete guide to surfing in Corralejo
Punta Gorda
You can follow the dusty coast road down all the way to Punta Gorda. It’s to the west of El Heirro by about 15-20 minutes and means driving past some of the more secret reef points (shh!) on the island. Punta itself is another low-lying volcanic shelf that gives a great summertime right-hander that really benefits from offshore winds (which are E here).
El Hierro left
El Hierro is an A-frame peak at heart. It builds up over a shallow volcanic reef on a shelf just off the north shore of the island. When it’s at its most shapely, you’ll see two very distinct sides to surf on. The left is a longer, more rippable shoulder that can be very slabby and hollow on the biggest winter swells. It’s a true shortboarder wave, with room for cutbacks and multiple bottom turns before a tubey section to finish. This is the best part of the El Hierro surf!
El Hierro right
There’s a smaller right on offer at El Hierro. It comes off the same A-frame peak as the left and tends to be fast with a steeper drop in, leading to a quick hollow section that likes to close out.
Majanicho
Majanicho is the town where you find the dusty track to drive west towards El Heirro. Everyone heading for the big A-frames must pass through. Some won’t want to leave, because there’s a rather fine wave that comes in off the rocks on the east side of the village. It’s a peely right hander that surfs a bit like Imsouane in Morocco. It’s over a medium-deep reef, so booties are a good shout and it’s one of the more protected waves in northern Fuerte, which means it can work even when its 8-10 foot or more. Can get busy.
El Cotillo
The east-coast surf town of El Cotillo is also the main tourist hotspot on Fuerte. You can head here to hit the Grandes Playas beaches (great for kitesurfing in summer and beginner waves in winter) or cross to Isla Lobos for one of the best right handers in the whole archipelago.
Check out our complete guide to surfing in El Cotillo right here
Surf camps in El Hierro
El Hierro is a remote beach in the middle of nowhere. It should hardly be a surprise, then, that it doesn’t have surf camps. However, it’s smack dab in the middle of northern Fuerte, which is arguably THE hub for surf camps in the whole Canaries.
You’ve got three villages in the vicinity, each of which is packed with options. In the west is El Cotillo, then there’s Lajares in the heart of the island, and then there’s Corralejo, the tourist center of Fuerte and home to loads of camps and schools.
Most offer something similar but we really think these ones stand out from the crowd:
- Surf Safari Fuerteventura – These guys have a 4X4 and sometimes include one offroad outing to find unknown (well, at least to tourists) breaks around the island. It’s a great option for more advanced surfers.
- Gracy’s Surf Yoga Villa – Gracy runs one of the best yoga surf retreats in the Canary Islands. The package here includes multiple yoga and meditation classes each day, along with guided surf lessons at more beginner-friendly breaks.
There are many, many more surf camps at this end of Fuerteventura. You can search em all below or check out our guide to the best surf camps on the island for the current year for a bit more of a curated pick.
A note on why we partner with BookSurfCamps.com: Book Surf Camps are probably the biggest online aggregator of surf camps and surf-yoga packages in the world. We sounded out a quite a few potential partners before we affiliated with them. But, in the end, the abundance of choice for beginners, intermediates, and female-only surfing sealed it. We also love the simplicity of their booking system and the trusted brand name, along with the focus on connecting with homegrown local businesses on the ground.
Want more El Hierro surf camp options? Search the whole shebang below right now and book in a few clicks.
Where to stay when surfing in El Hierro?
You’ve got two choices when it comes to hitting El Heirro: Stay remote and be near the waves or base yourself in one of the larger towns in nearby northern Fuerteventura.
We can see the pluses to both, but have always opted for the latter ourselves, just because it means you get a larger selection of hotels and more amenities. And we usually have a hire car anyhow, so are free to drive to whichever beach/break is working.
Here are some accomodations that will tick both boxes…
- Cabin in front of idyllic Majanicho Beach – We could stay a whole month or more at this seafront cabin in Manjanicho. Settle in, live the life of a Canarian fisherperson, surf everyday. It’s a brick-built bolthole literally steps from the water with bags and bags of charm. The real way to live like a local.
- Surfescape Fuerteventura – A stylish surf lodge with its own pool and palm-filled gardens. Very cool pad; very cool people. You’re only 15 minutes’ drive from El Heirro here. (Oh, and this is a rare option where you might not need a car, since they organize surf outings in the lodge itself).
- Casa Belle – A four-person house in the urbanization that lies betweeen Lajares, Majanicho and the main Playa El Heirro. It’s comfy, has access to great al fresco dining terraces and its own pool, and puts you literally minutes from the surf.
Surf lessons in El Hierro
Because of the remoteness of this part of the island, it’s also not common to do surf lessons up here. For those, head to the nearby town of El Cotillo, where we can recommend:
- Beginner surf courses with Corralejo Surf School – Total beginners will love this offering, which either surfs the east shore of Corralejo or travels to El Cotillo for sessions in surf basics and pop up technique.
- Intermediate surf courses with Corralejo Surf School – Same school different level, these guys have a fine offering for improver surfers looking to nail down key techniques. It’s a great option if you have some confidence and autonomy in the line up, can go down the line, and regularly surf green waves.
When to surf in El Hierro?
El Hierro gets way more action during the Fuerteventura winter months. That’s when the NW-W swell channel is really flowing, thanks to distant storms in the mid and upper Atlantic Ocean. Getting all the way down here takes them time and they’ll pick up real moxie as they go, turning into beefy groundswell waves with plenty of power and big periods to boot.
All that starts to combine with offshore winds around about the end of September, and things don’t really get bad again until March time. Of course, there are occasional days in the summer, too, but it tends to be smaller and better suited to beginners and lower intermediates from May to August.
We might use affiliate links in this post. Basically, you click em’ and we get a little something from your booking or purchase. They help us keep offering more and more in-depth surf guides to awesome places all around the globe. So, thanks for that!
