Fuerteventura

Fuerteventura is an island, part of Canary Islands, Spain. The semi deserted island of Fuerteventura is just 100km from the African coast (near the border between Morocco and Western Sahara). Its climate is almost perfect, with average monthly temperatures ranging from 17 ° C in January and 25 ° C in August.

Fuerteventura is the longest island in the archipelago: 98 km from north to south. The barren and arid interior of the island closely resembles the African neighbors Morocco and Western Sahara, including low rainfall, rocky desert landscape (the temperatures of these rocks can reach 67 ° C on a hot day) and simple villages of whitewashed houses.

Hitching in / out, you could try Hitchhiking a boat.

Hitchhiking in Fuerteventura

Fuerteventura is a perfect place for hitchhiking. There's three types of people you may find: Canary people, Italians who came to the island to surf and decided to stay and live there, and German tourists. This last type will only be found on the most touristic cities (eg. Corralejo and Cotillo) and they will probably not pick you up from the road, maybe because their cars are full or just because they don't really know Fuerteventura. When it comes to local people and Italian, you will have no problem hitchhiking. People in Fuerteventura are really hospitable, talkative and funny. However, don't forget that this island is pretty deserted and with not a lot of population. There are a lot of fishermen villages where probably almost nobody will speak English, so perhaps knowing some Spanish words will help you get easily a ride. Once you've met somebody willing to drive you, be sure to ask them as much as you want about the island because they will gratefully tell you about the best beaches and towns.

In her opinion, Ramonaflowers wouldn't say there are "perfect" spots to hitchhike. Surely you will get more rides in the outskirts of the towns and in the roads with deviations for different places, but even inside towns you can find somebody. Time waiting rarely exceeds 20 minutes and in most cases more than one person (two, three and even more) can get in one car. This is because there are a lot of people riding trucks and vans (specially surfers). Hitchhiking in petrol-stations and big supermarkets is also a good idea. Above all, just be sure that you are hitchhiking some place where cars can easily stop.

Guaguas (the equivalent to a bus in the Canary island) are also very cheap, so in case you don't get any rides or are just in a hurry, you can always catch one.

Hitchhiking in the west part of the island might be more difficult, as not many people live there and the land is much more difficult to walk by.

Out of the airport

The airport is very near from Puerto del Rosario. You can easily get a ride in very few minutes just standing in the road of the parking.

Sleep

In theory, camping for free in Fuerteventura is forbidden, but most of beaches are full of corralitos (stones put together forming a circle) where you can plant your tent or sleeping bag. Corralitos are usually not very big, but they are a good option when it comes to sleeping in beaches because they will protect you from the wind. As mentioned, camping is forbidden. However, if you only stay one or two nights nobody will tell you nothing. Even locals are happy to see you staying there. Of course sleeping in the beach isn't perhaps the most comfortable option, but it will save you money and will allow you to move from one place to another.

Fuerteventura is a very windy island (that's why it's so popular to practice surf there), so just make sure you find a sheltered place if you are sleeping outside.

Food

Eating can be very cheap, specially if you move away from touristic beaches. Most common foods to try are mojo picón, papas arrugás and, of course, bananas.

Personal Experiences

Ramonaflowers stayed in Fuerteventura 5 days, all of them sleeping in the beach and hitchhiking. She would totally recommend visiting Fuerteventura, specially if you love water sports. Plenty of surfing spots and schools will be found, the beaches are incredible and people are very welcoming. Make sure you bring a lot of sunscreen, because Canary sun will totally burn your skin if you don't protect it. Also, keep in mind that pretty much all the island is deserted: almost no trees and, therefore, no shadows to rest.

Nomadwiki & Trashwiki

Check Nomadwiki for info on accommodation, showers etc. or Trashwiki for dumpsters...and share your wisdom :)