Costa Calma Buggy Safari to La Pared Fuerteventura

Costa Calma, the starting point

Costa Calma is a relaxed resort on the narrowest part of Fuerteventura, where the Jandía peninsula joins the rest of the island. Its sheltered beaches face east, and the town is surrounded by low hills and pine plantations that make it greener than most of the south. It is a convenient base for exploring the peninsula, and the buggy safari begins right here.

Your guide collects you from your accommodation in Costa Calma and takes you to the starting point, where you receive your helmet and a short briefing on driving the buggy. Then the convoy sets off: no driving experience off-road is needed, only a valid licence and a sense of adventure. This Costa Calma buggy safari is one of the easiest ways to reach places most visitors never see.

Desert hills and dry riverbeds

Away from the coast, the south of Fuerteventura becomes a landscape of bare volcanic hills, stony plains and barrancos, the dry riverbeds that fill with water only after rare winter rains. The island is the oldest of the Canaries, and millions of years of wind and erosion have rounded its mountains and painted them in shades of ochre, red and brown.

The tracks wind between these hills, and every turn opens a new view of the empty, silent interior. It is a landscape that feels almost lunar, and the whole island is protected as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Your guide sets a safe, steady pace and stops at viewpoints so you can take photos of the natural park.

Playa de Ugán and the wild west coast

On the west side of the isthmus, the scenery changes completely. Here the full force of the Atlantic hits the shore, and the stop at Playa de Ugán shows you a black sand beach battered by huge waves, a dramatic contrast to the calm lagoons of the east coast. Swimming is dangerous on this side, but the views and the sound of the ocean are unforgettable.

After the beach the convoy makes a short stop at a small local café, where you can buy a coffee or a soft drink and rest before the next stretch of track. It is also a chance to talk with your guide about the island, its farming past and the wildlife that survives in this dry environment.

La Pared and the views of Jandía Natural Park

Dirt tracks lead up to La Pared, a small village known as a surf paradise of the west coast. Its name, "the wall", recalls an ancient stone wall that once crossed the isthmus and is said to have divided the two native kingdoms of the island before the Spanish conquest. Today the village is famous for its surf schools, its sandstone rock formations and its sunsets.

From the heights near La Pared you enjoy a sweeping view of Jandía Natural Park, with its mountain ridge running south towards the highest peak of Fuerteventura and the long beaches of the west. If you are looking for things to do around Costa Calma that show the island's wild side, this viewpoint alone is worth the trip.

Playa de Sotavento

On the way back to Costa Calma, the safari stops at Playa de Sotavento, one of the most celebrated beaches in the Canary Islands. At low tide a long sandbar encloses a shallow turquoise lagoon several kilometres long, and the steady trade winds have made it a famous spot for windsurfing and kitesurfing competitions.

The photo stop lets you capture the vast pale sand and the many shades of blue of the lagoon, a gentle finale after the rugged tracks of the interior. Your guide then leads the convoy back to the starting point, and you are dropped off at your accommodation in Costa Calma about 3 hours after departure.