Five Days in Fuerteventura – Surf SUP, Wing Foiling and Some Incredible Waves

My recent trip to Fuerteventura was for five days with a paddling friend, Dave. We'd planned on getting three days of wing foiling sessions in, but during the week leading up to the trip, I noticed there were two good days of clean five-foot waves forecast.

So we decided to pay the extra fee to take a couple of surf SUPs with us.

My choice was the Starboard Twin Fin 8'3", and Dave took the Starboard Spice 8'3".

Day One – Straight Into the Waves at Rocky Point

this is us paddling from the beach near us to Rocky Point 

We arrived in Corralejo on Friday afternoon. We couldn't check into our hotel until five o'clock, so we thought we'd go and have a look at the local surf spots.

As soon as we arrived, we realised we needed to quickly unpack our boards and paddle out!

We were staying in Corralejo, about 250 metres from the beach, and could see a wave breaking at Rocky Point, probably about a kilometre away.

So we got in the water and paddled across, not with huge intentions of surfing for long, but just to get over there and get wet after a long day travelling.

As we paddled up to Rocky Point, we could see the sets rolling in half a kilometre offshore, and our eyes lit up.

We were in!

We paddled past a few surfers, a few foilers and a few paddleboarders and, as usual, waited to see what the wave was doing. But after about five minutes, we quickly realised we needed to get involved.

At this point, there were about three foilers, two paddleboarders and five surfers.

We absolutely scored!

We surf SUPed for about two hours in chest-to-head-high waves, with lovely clean right-handers.

Everyone was whooping and having fun. There was even a young grom, about 12 years old, on a SUP, having the time of his life, which was great to see.

42 km/h on a Surf SUP!

I lost my SURF WAX cap, but it was worth it!

The last few sets that came in got steeper and steeper, and I later realised that the maximum speed recorded on my Garmin watch was 42 km/h.

Now, we thought that might have been a bit of a dodgy reading, but we looked at Dave's watch, and his also showed 42 km/h.

So those waves had some power, and what a session it was!

The Starboard Twin Fin was absolutely phenomenal on these waves, turning left and right with ease, very stable and very hard-wearing.

I found that last bit out when I ended up in shallow water, probably about two feet deep, with rocks underneath. Luckily, we were okay!

With the session over, we decided to paddle back as it was getting dark and finally go and check into our hotel.

Day Two – Bigger Waves and More Surfers

We woke up a little bit achy and sore after the long day travelling and two hours of surfing.

We walked down to the beach and looked over towards Rocky Point again, and it looked even bigger!

So we thought, let's not rush over. Let's have some breakfast.

We had breakfast, which we quickly rushed through, of course, grabbed our kit and paddled back over.

Except today, there was a little more breeze, it was slightly choppier, and there were a whole load more surfers out.

There must have been about 25 surfers, another 25 beginners on the inside with foam boards, and probably only two or three paddleboarders.

We decided to paddle past everyone and go further over towards Rocky Point, staying away from the main group of surfers.

After all, we're on paddleboards. We don't need to be sitting on the perfect A-frame.

Again, the sets were coming in bigger today, overhead and a little bit more frightening.

Knowing I only had two fins on the Twin Fin, I was a little apprehensive, but went for it anyway.

And the board delivered again!

The 8'3" was the perfect size for me. I could stand on it easily between sets, and as the waves got steeper and steeper, I was absolutely flying down the line, carving left and right with ease.

Dave was doing exactly the same on his Starboard Spice.

There was plenty of whooping and cheering, and the surfers even gave us some appreciation. A few said they didn't know paddleboards could surf like that!

Absolutely boiling, 26 degrees, shorts and T-shirts, blue water and head-high waves.

Our trip had started very successfully!

After another two and a half hours, we decided to paddle back to the beach, as we were absolutely knackered.

We'd covered around 7 kilometres each day surfing waves, both recording speeds of over 43 km/h.

And yes, on paddleboards!

The surfers seemed a little amazed. I'm not sure why, but I was very happy with all the kit we'd used.

Off we went for a lovely Spanish lunch.

Throughout both sessions, I was using the Black Project Surge paddle, which paired up really well with the Starboard Twin Fin.

Unfortunately, that was our last day of waves, but taking our boards was worth it just for those sessions.

Three Days of Learning to Wing Foil

For the next three days, we had wing foiling lessons booked.

We booked with Fiorta Wing Foil in Fuerteventura, a small business run by an amazing French instructor called Ralph.

I highly recommend Ralph. He was patient, enthusiastic and stayed in the water with us throughout the lessons.

We also had helmets with radios, so he could give us instructions and tips when we needed them.

He had some great kit, too.

We had a hire car, so we travelled over to the west side of the island to Playa el Río, where we were learning in a lovely lagoon.

The lagoon was brilliant. Beautiful blue water, around chest height, and a perfect place to learn wing foiling.

Wing Foiling – Day One

After two hours, we were winging up and down the lagoon pretty easily, although the wind was quite light.

Wing Foiling – Day Two

The wind picked up a little, so we went out with five-metre wings.

We started getting up on the foil, falling off loads and occasionally having to swim back a bit because the wind had gone slightly offshore.

But it was cracking!

Wing Foiling – Day Three

By day three, there was a bit more wind, and we'd started to understand how to control the wing properly.

I took out a seven-metre wing and was taking off within about ten minutes.

Backwards and forwards, falling in loads and having fun in that beautiful, warm blue water.

You can't go wrong!

Again, I highly recommend Ralph. He's a fantastic instructor, gave us loads of useful tips, and the lessons were a very good price.

Paddling with Susanna Lea

I nearly forgot another great part of the trip!

We also managed to get out paddling with Susanna Lea, using her Sunova kit in Fuerteventura.

We went out with her two days in a row, and she really looked after us.

She's awesome, and if you're ever in Fuerteventura, make sure you look up Susanna Lea as well.

What a Trip!

Overall, this trip was awesome.

We went out planning to learn to wing foil, but ended up scoring two incredible days of surf SUP as well.

The Starboard Twin Fin and Spice were brilliant in the waves, the Black Project Surge paddle performed really well, and the three days of wing foiling were great fun.

Five days of warm weather, blue water, surfing, paddling and learning something new.

I'd definitely recommend Fuerteventura for a watersports trip, and I'll certainly be going back!