Corralejo - Glass Beach

• General details
• Directions
• How the winds work
• Tidal conditions
• Hazards
• Facilities
• B&B's / Campsites
• Pubs & eateries

General details:

Glass is more popular with windsurfers than Flag because you can park (hopefully) much closer to the water's edge, 'though parking on the roadside along the beach is limited & is possible only in a couple of places unless you have a 4WD vehicle. There's a steep edge & soft sand.

2003 update: The main road has been resurfaced. This has raised the road surface by ~6-7cms meaning the drop off the side of the surface onto the sand is now large enough to remove the exhaust from the Corsa/Clio/Saxo - type of rental cars. Be careful!

DON'T be tempted to drive onto the sand unless you have a 4WD.

There's a guy who drives round the beaches & charges a fortune to pull cars off the sand.

Again you'll need to get there early to get a good parking spot, even though the wind doesn't seem to pick up until well into the afternoon. Once the sand starts to blow across the road, windsurfers start to get interested.

The safest place to launch is from the N (therefore busiest) end of the beach, just where it turns seawards: There's about a 5m gap with no real rocks at any state of the tide. When the tide's high, you can launch from practically anywhere along the beach, though beware as the tide falls - there are some vicious reefs parallel with the shore and scattered, pointy rocks abound. These are exposed at low tide.

Once you get out, don't get too close to the shoreline along the N end - it's very rocky - even though it's tempting to ride the waves close in. If there's a good swell, you may have port tack jumping, though it's more of a wave riding break, with a good, safe, easy ride back in, peeling from left to right. There's no cafe here so you'll need to provide for yourselves.

A pretty windless Glass Beach

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Directions to the right place:

Glass Beach is about 3.5km further S than Flag Beach, and about 5kms from Corralejo, heading S along the road towards Puerto del Rosario & the airport. You'll recognise it by all the cars parked up there.

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How the winds work:

The wind normally blows cross-shore from the L; sometimes slightly cross-off. This direction is prefect for riding the small waves along the point.

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Tidal conditions:

Tidal range is around 2.5m max. Spring lows are low enough to expose lots of rocks.

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Hazards:

Soft sand. - Normally rather pleasant, but rental Corsas don't seem to like it.

Removing the car's exhaust on the side of the road.

Keep to the narrow launch area close to the N end of the beach. Everywhere else is rocky.

The apparently sandy shoreline of the beach is actually very unpleasantly rocky (sandstone). I found this out to my cost when I decided to land there & got dragged across the rocks. - Ouch!

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Facilities:

Some "hides" just to the N of the point. Good swimming & sunbathing beach in same place, with good (ie: non-rocky) access to the water for swimming & snorkling.

Watchtower (looks like a prison guard tower!)

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B&B's / campsites

Loads of hotels/apartments in Corralejo

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Pubs and eateries

Corralejo's the spot.

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This page last updated: 3rd Sep, 2021.