Caleta de Fuste, Fuerteventura

Caleta de Fuste - a holiday village in the sun

Caleta de Fuste is often described as a holiday village - a warm, friendly resort loved by couples and families for its clean beach, safe bathing and variety of affordable restaurants. It is also an excellent base for exploring this island being no more than an hour away from almost anywhere.

Caleta de Fuste is situated on the east coast of the island about a 15 minute taxi ride from the airport. The village of Caleta de Fuste is centered around an old fishing port from where you can go on boat, yacht and catamaran trips to swim with dolphins for whale watching.
 

The superb sandy beach is set around a bay shaped like a horse shoe and slopes gently to the sea making it one of the safest on the island for children. Beyond this is another sandy beach made up of small bays.

Caleta de Fuste the resort

The resort is steadily growing in facilities and popularity. A Championship standard golf course is on the edge of the town and second course is being built adjacent.

Caleta de Fuste is a place to relax and enjoy your holiday. The town itself has shops, bars and restaurants to cater for all tastes and pockets with food as varied as Chinese, Thai, Mexican, Greek, Indian or Portuguese and whether you want a fish or steak restaurant, a tapas bar or just British food, you will find it here.

Entertainment in the evening is varied with a wide choice of bars and hotels to chose from but if you are after just a quiet drink, there are plenty of places for that.

Caleta de Fuste is very much a town for couples and families - less noisy, less bustling and more laid back than its larger, brasher counterpart Corralejo in the north, Caleta is the place to come for a relaxing holiday. There are no high rises in the town - just palm tree lined streets.

Shops in Caleta de Fuste

Water sports are popular in Caleta de Fuste. Around the marina, you can learn wind surfing, scuba diving and snorkeling or hire a jet ski.

Just outside the town centre at the golf course roundabout lies the Atlantico Centre, an undercover shopping centre with boutiques, restaurants, bars and a large supermarket where it is recommended you stock up on your shopping because there is more variety and it is cheaper than the mini markets in Caleta de Fuste itself.

Here also you will find a modern ten pin bowling alley, multi-screen cinema which sometimes shows films in English, a large amusement arcade and all set in very attractive gardens around a lake.

Around here also you will find McDonalds and Burger King and the last major five star hotel development in Caleta de Fuste.

The beaches at Caleta de Fuste

There are three main beach areas in Caleta de Fuste.

The main beach is shaped like a horse shoe and is made of pale golden sand. It has been designed to gently slope into the sea to make for a very safe bathing beach. You can go out some considerable distance and still be in water safe enough to stand up in so it is ideal for children.

Dotted around the main beach of Caleta de Fuste are various beach cafes and bars and refreshments are never far away.

South of Caleta de Fuste's principal beach are a number of little sandy lagoon bays. These small lagoons have also been designed with families in mind. These bays stretch all the way to the Atlantico shopping centre on the outskirts of the town.

These lagoons have been created  by building bays using rocks excavated from the foundations of the newly opened Sheraton hotel and then importing sand for the beach. These beaches have now settled in and provide a pleasing and attractive backdrop as well as a handy place for a quick dip and a sunbathe while shopping.

The five star Sheraton hotel is now complete and work is well underway on another quality hotel in this area underlining Caleta de Fuste's commitment to the middle and upper tourism market.

Walking in the opposite direction takes you past the harbour and to an area of rocky coastline favoured by fishermen. An attractive coastal path takes you alongside this rocky outcrop and continues all the way into Nuevo Horizonte. Along this rocky coast you can meet the chipmunks of Caleta de Fuste. These little animals scurry around the rocks and are so tame, they will come and gntly take nuts out of your hand - pistachio are their favourites.

The harbour at Caleta de Fuste

Near the harbour at Caleta de Fuste an area has been set aside solely for water sports. Here you can indulge in everything from jet ski to wind surfing to scuba diving and all levels of skills are catered for. For e novice windsurfer, there are special taster sessions and if you have never been scuba diving before, you can even sign up for lessons in that!

In the harbour itself, you can relax with a drink, enjoy a meal and watch the boats coming and going. Various boat trips leave from here in a glass bottomed boat or to go swimming with dolphins or whale watching. And if you don't see a dolphin, you can return free the next day.

There is also a floating oceanarium with a couple of sea lions which put on a free public performance.

Public transport in Caleta de Fuste

Caleta de Fuste is well served by public transport with a regular air conditioned bus service running to both north and south of the island.

A free bus service runs to the Atlantico Centre from Caleta de Fuste town (you can catch it outside any Elba hotel) although it does take a rather long route - a good way to explore the area for nothing though! It will take you to Nuevo Horizonte and around the golf course. However there are taxis outside the Atlantico Centre which will take you back to Caleta de Fuste with your shopping for a couple of Euros.

A large hill overlooks the town and Caleta de Fuste has slowly expanded up it and there is even another centre here with bars and restaurants. A mini train runs from the harbour up the hill which is known as Chipmunk Mountain.

Taxis around the town are cheap - reckon on 2-3 Euros for most local journeys and about 15 Euros to get to the airport.

The main rank is in the car park opposite Tony Roma's ribs restaurant. To and from the Atlanico Centre or up Chipmunk Mountain will cost a couple of Euros while to Nuevo Horizonte or Costa Antigua will set you back about three Euros.

There used to be 15 taxis operating in Caleta de Fuste and while this was adequate most days, on "changover" days when demand for taxis to go to the airport is at its peak, there were often not enough to go around. However, six more taxi licences have been granted and these cabs are starting to appear.

In Caleta de Fuste, it is not possible to pre-book taxis. Instead you phone 928163004. On most days they will be there within a few minutes - on busy changeover days it is still unusual to wait more than 20 minutes.

Dining out in Caleta de Fuste

There is a very large number of restaurants in Caleta de Fuste of different nationalities. It also has one of the four top restaurants on the island honoured as being among the best in Spain.

Other nationality restaurants include Chinese, Indian, Greek, Portuguese, Mexican, Thai, Caribbean and Italian There are steak houses, tapas bars and fish restaurants along with countless bars serving British food. A number of restaurants have been recommended by our guests ad you can see these on our dining out page.

Market day in Caleta de Fuste

Saturday is Market day in Caleta de Fuste. The market runs along Caleta de Fuste high street with many African goods on sale along with clothing and dress jewellery items. The market is open in the mornings only.

Other names for Caleta de Fuste

For the holidaymaker, it can be confusing - Caleta de Fuste is called many diferent names by locals living here.

Caleta de Fuste gets its name from "Caleta" (cove) and Fuste (a type of boat) but over the years has become known as other names just to confuse tourists! So if you hear it being called Caleta de Fuste, Caleta, El Castillo (because of the 17th century fortification) and most recently Costa Caleta dont worry, it is the same place!

The development of Caleta de Fuste

Caleta de Fuste has changed a lot over recent years but planners have kept a tight rein on development so you do nt see sprawling high rises like in many resorts on he Spanish mainland.

A second golf course is being built adjacent to the existing 18 hole championship golf course. The Sheraton Hotel is now open as is the Costa Caleta hotel and a further quality hotel is being built next to The Sheraton.

Residential development has expanded up Chipmunk Mountain but building has not been haphazard and the development of Caleta de Fuste has been handled in such a way as to allow couples and families to enjoy a relaxing holiday in a safe and friendly environment.