Playa de Cofete

Cofete is on the ocean side of the Jandía peninsula, and it is the emptiest big landscape in the Canaries: a beach fourteen kilometres long, backed by a mountain wall that runs the same length, with a handful of houses and a cemetery on the slope and nothing else. There are no bars, no umbrellas and usually no more than a few dozen people spread over the whole thing.

The frames are wide by nature. From the viewpoint on the pass above, the beach, the ridge and the sea stack into one shot; down on the sand, the mountain fills the background from any angle and a single figure reads clearly against it. Late afternoon puts light on the ridge and long shadows on the sand.

The road in is the catch. It climbs from Morro Jable on an unsurfaced mountain track with drops and blind bends, takes about forty minutes, and most car hire contracts exclude it — driving it in a normal rental can void the insurance. A 4x4 transfer or the local bus, which runs a few times a day, are the usual answers.

Swimming here is dangerous: the Atlantic breaks straight onto the beach with strong currents and no lifeguard. Wind is constant. There is no shade and no water, so bring both time and supplies, and check the bus timetable or the transfer before committing the session to Cofete.