Sssh! Can you keep a secret?
If, like me, you prefer to avoid the busy holiday hotspots in the world, then you may well have never considered a holiday in the Canary Islands. Images of packed beaches, drunken tourist antics, theme bars and general unpleasantry have long put me off visiting the large resorts of mainstream Canary Island package holidays. Call me a holiday snob, but such places are my idea of hell on earth!
But, there are some lesser known islands that are completely the opposite. They do require more of an effort to get to, but the journey is well worth it for the chance to escape to relatively unspoilt beaches.
La Graciosa is one such place. Although fairly popular with day trippers making the 20 minute ferry hop from Lanzarote, the limited frequency of those crossings, and the lack of facilities beyond the small harbour town of Caleta de Sebo, make it still possible to escape the masses and find your own little bit of paradise.
Ferry from Lanzarote to La Graciosa
A handful of restaurants, bars and cafes, a fabulous bakery, two small but well-stocked grocery shops, a hardware store, a Dive Centre, the 'smallest museum in the world' and some municipal buildings pretty much make up the extent of the island's services.
There are no hotels, just a handful of holiday rental apartments.
There are no tarmac roads on the island at all. A local taxi company will take visitors to the prime spots in jeeps, but they best way to get around is on foot or mountain bike....
Just one tiny little thing... if you are offended by nudity, you may want to stay away from the furtherest flung beaches of this tiny island. With so few people about, all over tanning is de rigueur!