Fuerteventura Car Hire

Around the resorts and airport you have a huge choice of car hire companies. You can check our online carhire op00tions/prices at Islas Canarias Tours by clicking this link.

If you're looking for places to go, check out the sections on BEACHES - TOWNS and EXCURSIONS.

If you're hiring a car locally, make sure all insurance and taxes are included in the price. "Collision waiver damage" can be a killer if not taken out as you may have to pay up to 360 euros for any damage or scratches to the car.

Of course you'll need your driving licence if you want to hire a car, along with your passport. Most companies require the driver to be 21 years old or more with a clean license and at least one years driving experience. If you have a license that doesn't have a photo and the police stop you and you haven't got your passport with you too, you'll receive an on-the-spot fine of 50,000 ptas! The newer licenses with the photo are acceptable is ID by the police without having to have your passport aswell. All driving licences are valid here, European or not. Petrol is pretty cheap at around 110 pesetas per litre.

Driving is on the right hand side of the road, with speed limits and warning signs very well marked wherever you go. Buses and taxis always expect you to give way to them and it's a good idea to do this if you like driving safely! Parking anywhere around the island is easy to find and often free. You could be hunting for a while for a free space in Corralejo and Puerto del Rosario is you're driving up and down themain streets but there's always spaces on the side streets. Whilst the roads around the island are very well maintained and often quiet, those in these two resorts get a bit busier.

Having driven round most of the island, I'm happy and suprised to say that there's no roads to avoid, they are all pretty well maintained and easy to drive on. There's not that much traffic on the island but getting stuck behind a couple of "Sunday drivers" can get a bit annoying as everywhere is single-lane traffic other than a small stretch of road south of the capital.

If you're driving south from Corralejo on a windy day, watch out for drifts of sand on the road. If you pull off that road to admire the dunes and beaches be very careful. Certain parts are solid, concrete and safe to park but much is just soft sand. If you pull off onto the sand you're likely to get stuck there. Don't panic, there's a French chappy who's goes up and down the road in a rescue truck and charges you 5,000 pesetas to pull you out. I know all this from personal experience by the way, fool that I am!

It takes about 3 hours of constant driving to go from north to south but you really need 3 days car hire to see everything properly. I'd recommend one day covering the north as far down as Puerto del Rosario, one for the center with La Antigua, Betencuria, Pajara and the western side of the island and one for the south right down to Punta de Jandia