Cofete Beach

Cofete runs about twelve kilometres along the northern side of the Jandia peninsula, backed by a ridge rising to over eight hundred metres and with nothing built along it except a hamlet of a few houses and a lone building, the Villa Winter, whose German owner and wartime purpose have generated a large volume of unsupported speculation. Getting there means an unsurfaced mountain track of about eighteen kilometres from Morro Jable, narrow, rough and with drops, which rental agreements usually prohibit; a shuttle bus runs instead. The beach is exposed to the full Atlantic and the currents are severe, with regular drownings and no lifeguards; swimming is strongly discouraged. It is a place to walk and look rather than to bathe.

What you actually see

• The empty sand - twelve kilometres with almost no development.
• The Jandia ridge - mountains rising over eight hundred metres behind.
• The Villa Winter - an isolated house surrounded by unverified stories.
• The Atlantic surf - heavy swell breaking along the whole length.

When to go

Year-round; Fuerteventura is dry and warm in all seasons, and the wind blows constantly. Cloud often sits on the ridge behind the beach. The track is impassable after the rare heavy rain.

Honest expectations

The track is genuinely rough and most hire car contracts forbid it, leaving the shuttle bus as the practical option. Swimming is dangerous and people drown here; there are no lifeguards or facilities. The Villa Winter stories are folklore without evidence.

Nearby

Morro Jable and its beaches lie south over the ridge; Punta de Jandia is at the peninsula's tip.