Things to Do in Tarajalejo 🌴 History, Coast & Bay

Looking for things to do in Tarajalejo doesn’t mean finding big monuments or shopping avenues. What you’ll find here is a real village with real history, built by fishermen who chose this sheltered bay more than four centuries ago — because the sea here is different: calm, clear, protected by volcanic cliffs on both sides.

Its name says it all. Tarajalejo is the diminutive of tarajal, the native majorero shrub (Tamarix canariensis) that grows in the area. A name of possibly Berber or Guanche origin, older than the Spanish conquest, already appearing on the maps of Italian engineer Leonardo Torriani in 1590 as “Taraalejo”. Over 430 years of documented history in this small corner of southern Fuerteventura.

A village built by fishermen, not developers

Tarajalejo isn’t a resort. It isn’t a hotel complex. It’s a real village with real history, built by fishermen who chose this sheltered bay more than four hundred years ago because the sea here is different: calm, clear, sheltered on both sides by volcanic cliffs.

Tarajalejo Bay isn’t a geographical accident. It’s the reason the village exists. Sheltered on both sides by tall volcanic cliffs, its waters are noticeably calmer than those of northern Fuerteventura. No strong waves, no treacherous currents. A natural swimming pool with a black volcanic bottom where you can see all the way down.

The bay the fishermen chose

Tarajalejo Bay isn’t a geographical accident. It’s the reason the village exists. Sheltered on both sides by tall volcanic cliffs, its waters are noticeably calmer than those of northern Fuerteventura. No strong waves, no treacherous currents. A natural swimming pool with a black volcanic bottom where you can see all the way down.

That same calm that the fishermen chose four centuries ago is what lets you today spot sea urchins, fish, black basaltic rock and — if you’re lucky — a sea turtle swimming by just below the surface.

The coast of Tarajalejo — the route that explains everything

From the port of Tarajalejo, a 2-kilometre coastal path runs north — probably the best way to understand this village. The path follows the edge of the volcanic cliffs towards Giniginamar, with the Atlantic on your right and basaltic rock under your feet. No tourist signs, no crowds. Just wind and sea.

The walk takes about an hour at an easy pace — with stops to look. And there’s a lot to look at: the Cueva de Playa de Tarajalejo, the black lava formations reaching into the water, Punta Bonanzo with its open views of the southern Atlantic. On clear days, Africa is just 97 kilometres away.

But the moment nobody forgets is this: looking down from the cliff and seeing the transparent kayaks, gliding silently over the crystal-clear water. From above you see everything — the volcanic bottom, the fish, the kayaks as if they were floating in the air. Many tourists who walk the path first discover the village from the water later the same day.

The sea of Tarajalejo — what you don’t see from the shore

Beneath the calm surface of Tarajalejo Bay there’s a world most tourists never see. Volcanic basaltic rock covered with life: sea urchins, starfish, shoals of sea bream and salemas, and in the deeper cracks, moray eels. The bottom is black, dark, dramatic — and that’s what makes the colours of the fish stand out like in no other sea.

The same bay the 16th-century fishermen chose. The same sea the English corsairs tried to plunder in 1740. Now yours, in peace — whether you walk along the cliffs or, if you’re curious about what swims below, see it from the water too.