Esquinzo Beach

[Magoo]

Can anyone give us an update on Esquinzo beach, specifically the sunbed area below the Robinson which is (was) quite popular with naturists who don't like to rough it in a stone circle. When I was there in February a large chunk of it had been ripped away by the sea, leaving exposed rocks. Not very good for swimming. 

[jaynek65]

Hi Magoo, we're off there next week, so can give u an update then :-) 

Hopefully Emiliio's will be open !

[conniebee]

Mister Magoo - Have no fear, the sand is there. Rocks in the water though so you have to pick a careful channel to enter. Emilio is razed to the ground but looks like they - who?- are building a new place. Lotsa chairs, mostly new. €4 per piece still. Have a good one, Waldo.

[Magoo]

Thanks for that. We have been visiting that section of beach for years. Yes, the sand does come & go, but I have never seen anything like the state it was in in Feb. Emilio's was shut & boarded up & the sunbed price had gone up 33%. Needless to say, it was not very busy. Jaynek, I eagerly await your report before planning further trips

[notdeadfred]

Good news indeed Conniebee, thanks for posting.

We go out on Saturday for 2 weeks at the Fuerteventura Princess and like Magoo were wondering what we would find on the beach. Shame about Emilio's but sounds like they have a plan!

[Magoo]

Fred.

Don't know if you saw it, but I posted some photos of the state the beach was in, on this thread

http://www.fuerteventura-forum.com/index.php?topic=14812.0

Hope that the tides have been kind for your visit

[sally27]

Just read this and gutted that Emilio's has gone. Not in the best of condition but the beer were always ice cold and the gambas at lunchtime were excellent

It was also conveniently close to the naturist spot below as we also prefer sunbeds to the stone circles

Myself and my wife are going W/C 6th May and will now possibly have to look for an alternative location to spend our sun soaked days. We are stopping in the Princess Hotel and were wondering if anybody is able to suggest an alternative location with a bar close by that is populated mainly by naturist and is relatively close to the hotel. We went last year built did not explore much as the spot by Emiloe's had everything we needed.

Look forward to notdeadfred's trip report and any other suggestions Forum members may have

[Magoo]

Sally

If you walk a bit further North along the beach, there is another beach café. Its at the end of the stone circles just below the Monte Marina, so there is a mix of naturist / textile. However, the sunbeds for hire seem somewhat exposed to the wind as they are on a dune.

[sally27]

Thanks Magoo

Seem to remember this from last year, the sunbeds were on the slope of a small dune I think. Yes exposed but close to a cafe.

Regardless of the fact that Emilios has gone is the naturist area below it still a good place to go or is it nosiy due to the construction of a new bar?

[notdeadfred]

Magoo,

yes thanks I had seen your photos of the beach, and think I know where you were. We never did know the names of the bars though, so which one is Emilio's please, in relation to the Fuerte Princess? North or South?

We sometimes used the raised sunbeds at the side of a bar just beyond the water sports centre. Is that it? Despite being higher up the hillside it seemed to be quite sheltered most of the time. Relaxed mixture of naturist and textile. I don't remember there being any sunbeds "below" the bar when we were there last May.

Sally27,

If you leave the hotel and turn right, past the Magic Life, past the area where people feed the ground squirrels, there is a small area next to the cliffs which was mostly naturist last year, with a bar just a few more yards further along.

[Magoo]

Hi Sally

The beach it's self is OK & offers some shelter from the wind. The only gripe I had was that access for swimming was poor due to the amount of exposed rock. Sunbeds & sombrillas have been renewed & new windbreaks put in. However this has jacked up the price to €12.00 per day for the two of us. The sunbeds were very under-utilised with only abot 5 couples including ourselves using them

[Magoo]

Emilio's is (was) North of the FP just beyond the Hobicat / windsurf centre. Our sunbed spot was just beyond that

[sally27]

Thanks

will do some investigation turing right and left from the hotel on our first day

of course the hotel has a good naturist pool are but we also like to be near the sea

Hope the weather will hold for our arrival week after next

Thanks again

[notdeadfred]

Emilio's is (was) North of the FP just beyond the Hobicat / windsurf centre. Our sunbed spot was just beyond that

OK, so sounds like the same one we were using. Shame, we liked it there, but we'll have a look and hopefully still be able to settle there. Will post an update next week.

[notdeadfred]

ok quick update. The beach in front of FP as far as Emilo's and beyond looks much the same as last year. Rebuilding of Emilio's is well advanced, but the next little bar along, the one that sat a bit higher up, has vanished without trace. Naturists still using sunbeds along this stretch. To the south of the FP not so good. The stretch of sand in front of the Magic Life is no more. The whole length is now covered in rocks about 7/8 metre wide. No sand visible when tide in, but still some when out. Signs have been erected advising alternative walking routes to bypass this section of the beach. Will try to post some photos in due course.

[sally27]

If you are there now can you tell us what the weather is like and the likely forecast for next week?

Seems as if our usual lunchtime drink on the beach may not be possible this year unless they hurry up and finish Emilioes by next week!!

[conniebee]

"Rebuilding of Emilio's is well advanced, but the next little bar along, the one that sat a bit higher up, has vanished without trace. " Not sure which one you mean. Was it north of Emilio ?
We recommend 10 mins walk further ( north) to Luciano y Klaus at Esquinzo Butihondo - good food and fair prices. ( And do not recommend the new place at Mal Nombre, definitely up-priced with its rebuild.) Also is a new row of chairs just before L&K- better than the previous scattering over the dune.
Re enquiry on other thread, you can indeed walk from M. Nombre to Risco but better with tide going out, and will need shoes for much rock- scrambling.

[notdeadfred]

lunchtime drinks on the beach not advisable anyway unless the weather improves! Each morning has been thick cloud with strong chilly winds. Fleeces and anoraks have been much in evidence! Sun eventually breaks through for short spells early afternoon. This morning it is raining! Forecast for rest of week is much the same, max temp 21c. Yes, the bar I refer to was a little north of Emilio's.

[Magoo]

That's a bugger Fred. Sounds like the weather has not improved much since we went in February. The sea state was beyond my modest swimming ability for a lot of the time as well.

[sally27]

This is bad was relying on good weather as we have always had it in the past

The location of the PH is fantastic if you have good weather but a little isolated if not

looks like we will be packing more clothes than we would normally!

[notdeadfred]

yes if this keeps up you will need a couple of warms things if you like early mornings. Sun breaking through a bit earlier each day, but still not reliable. Goods news is the sea has calmed down a lot since earlier in the week - might brave my first nude early morning swim soon!

[sally27]

Fingers crossed that it will improve, the weather forecast trend is showing it getting warmer so things may be looking up for when we arrive middle of next week
Hopefully warm enough for your dip in the sea

[jaynek65]

Well finally arrived in Fuerteventura and made it to Esquinzo beach - update is yes emillios has gone, absolutly NO trace left, but yes they are building a new one next door to the surf club,  a 100 mtrs away, It's looking nearly done, so hopefully not long before prawns in garlic and a cool beer !

The beach is looking better than it did in oct last yr, the sand is coming back ;-)  only at low tide is there pebbles, so not to bad. Oh well best go and make the most of the next week in paradise :-)

[notdeadfred]

yesterday was our first full day on the beach since arriving. Weather is definitely improving and is forecast to keep doing so - phew! The heavy seas earlier in the week have improved the beach in front of Magic Life a bit. The stretch of stones at foot of dunes is only half as wide as it was when we arrived. The power of the sea indeed.

[notdeadfred]

Well the weather just got better each day and for our final couple of days there hasn't been a cloud in the sky. The new bar next to HobieCats is now open. Didn't try it ourselves but we heard that the food was good.

The people who run the beach bar directly in front of the FP have indicated to customers that they will have to close quite soon. This appears to be something to do with action by the local authorities over perceived ownership of the beach front. I think what he meant was that the council are claiming they own that part of the beach, and are enforcing controls over who can and cannot trade there. Apparently this is what happened to Emilio's, and if this one closes too it will also be completely removed.

The new bar next to HobieCats is very similar design to the ones at Jandia itself, and may be some standard installation specified by the authorities.

Oh, and 2 sunbeds plus umbrella still €12.

[jaynek65]

We have now returned home  but before we left we tried the new beach bar,  we went for a drink there on Thursday, and even thought they ( not the old emillio's crew) hadn't officially opened they were happy to serve us , even if it did mean we were sitting amongst the building rubble and builders!  They opened on friday, but it was yesterday before we finally had something to eat with our friends, pizza and club sandwiches are highly recommended  and they were still building around the customers, a new staircase went in yesterday afternoon so no more clambering up a steep sandbank :-)

The beach is improving every day, and during Friday night at least a foot of sand was bought in as it nearly covered the big rocks over which is quiet a transformation,the only real problem rocks now is a small strip that is exposed at low tide.

In summerary we would now recommend esquinzo beach as it is finally back to its glorious state that we all know and love.

[notdeadfred]

Finally got round to uploading some of my beach photos to my Flickr account, so here as promised are some varied views of Esquinzo (taken between 27th April to 11th May) which will hopefully reassure Magoo and others that the beach has recovered, and (possibly more importantly) also let them see exactly where the new bar is!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/quinnalot/sets/72157633605446872/

[Magoo]

EXCELENT!  What a difference three months makes. When we were there the rocky outcrops on IMG_8630 where totally exposed. The 10ft shelf seems to have gone as well. Still looks a bit quiet on the loungers, maybe €12 / day is putting folk off

Thanks for posting Fred

[notdeadfred]

The shelf is only 1/2ft now at highest point, and I took some of the pictures during our first week when the weather was a bit iffy and not many people on the beach. During the second week the loungers were full much of the time as people made up for lost sunning time, undeterred by the €12!

[Magoo]

The other downside of losing that much sand was that the gentle slope into the sea was lost, allowing waves to come in like a freight train. Being knocked over & bounced along the uncovered rocks in your birthday suit, is quite character building!