Winter Sun - Caleta de Fuste, Fuerteventura

New year is usually spent eating crisps and watching Jools Holland on tv whilst watching the rain batter off the window. This year was very different as we decided to go on holiday for new year to Fuerteventura- situated in the Canary Islands just off the cost of Morocco. Our trip was from 17th December - 3rd January. Our flight was at 6am and took around 4.5 hours to get there.

(Generic plane window picture)

When we arrived in the airport we were surprised at how busy and big the airport was, especially for it just being after Christmas! We stayed in the town of Caleta de Fuste, which was only around 10 minutes from the airport. Tip: Just hop in a taxi if you are staying in this area. We booked a shuttle transfer and regretted it pretty much after spending an hour on a boiling hot bus waiting for other flights to come in. A taxi would have cost no more than €10. 

(Fuerteventura map - http://www.wordtravels.com/Cities/Spain/Fuerteventura/Map)

We arrived at the hotel at around 2pm. I won't go too much into the hotel as I will be doing a separate review on it. 

The weather was amazing. None of us could believe it was December - it felt like July! The temperature was around 22 degrees on average and we all came back with great tans. It can get very windy however which is nice in the sun but quite chilly in the shade. In the whole of 2015, it only rained one day in July - which is the complete opposite of Scotland, only getting one day of sun in July! I recommend wearing a heavy cardigan at night as the temperature did seem to drop substantially. 

There are so many places you can go in Caleta de Fuste. First of all, the main centre is in the heart of the town. A few souvenir shops, selling bags, balls etc which close at 10pm. The centre is mostly packed with bars and restaurants. In the main centre there is a downstairs which is more lively and alive until early hours in the morning, playing loud music and hosting karaoke. You will not have a problem finding places to eat out! Food is generally cheap, meals costing about €10 per person including a drink. Plenty of sports bars - we particularly enjoyed The Highlander Scottish bar. Once you get to the end of the main centre, there are stairs and a path leading to another "strip" type road. This is also full of bars and restaurants and more souvenir shops. My favourite restaurant was called The Slowboat which was a Chinese buffet which made fresh meat, noodles, sushi - everything and only cost €35 for 4 adults and a child and 2 massive drinks each!

There is also an African Market on just before you get to the main centre further up the road in a car park. It is on from 10am-2pm on Wednesday and Saturday. It is packed full of stalls selling "knock-off" goods such as designer purses, bags, t-shirts, the usual (be sure to haggle). 

The beach at Caleta de Fuste spreads right around to the nearest harbour where you can go diving and chose from a selection of boat trips. We went on the "Obycat Boat Experience" and it was fantastic. It leaves harbour at 11am and sails to a gorgeous bay where you can snorkel and go on the jet ski. Fabulous lunch and drinks are also included in the price. 

The beach is massive and has golden sand however some areas are quite hard and shingley. Plenty of fish to see in the sea and the choice to go on a camel ride. 

For New Year most hotels host a gala dinner which was excellent in our hotel - Caleta Dorada. From 11pm onwards on New Years Eve there was a DJ and a live band at the Plaza (situated outside the Barcelo hotel beside the beach). It was a great way to bring in the New Year. There was fireworks here (not at the beach which most people thought) at midnight and the band played on until around 3 in the morning. 

Thank you Fuerteventura for bringing in the New Year in the best possible way. We did not want to leave!