We had a very lazy morning, cooked bacon and eggs, and set off mid-morning for a walk through the town and up to the port. The end of town that we were staying in was quite tacky and British oriented, and that continued for some way down the main street, getting more touristy, but after a while, it changed. It got more Spanish, with more traditional restaurants and narrow lanes. Only at that point did I feel like we were in a place worth visiting.
We discovered the restaurant strip that followed the beach, which mostly retained the Spanish charm (apart from the Gordon Ramsay restaurant), and found our way onto Waikiki Beach. Paula had recommended Mar y Mas diving shop, and we went in to talk to them. She'd mentioned Roberto, but I hadn't remembered his name. We found ourselves talking to Roberto, and he explained the diving options. There was a discovery dive that I could do without a licence for €90, and more advanced dives that Christian could do for much less. We took the information, and went to think about it.
We walked up to the port, being exposed to the worst of the wind coming from the north-west. You can clearly see Lanzarote to the north, and Lobos Island to the north-east. We walked around the top of the breakwall.
There was an Armas car ferry that went to Lanzarote, and a Fred Olsen fast cat that also went to Lanzarote. Various small boats went to Lobos. We spoke to a couple of people about prices for going to both places and they were reasonable, but without knowing what our other plans were, we couldn't really book anything. The kayaking/snorkelling people had got back to say that conditions would make the excursion we'd booked impossible, which was a real shame as I'd been looking forward to it.
We were hungry by now, and on our stroll back to the restaurants, allowed ourselves to get talked into tapas at the first restaurant after the fish co-op (which smelt amazing but didn't have a wonderful menu - and there was only outdoor seating). We got a sheltered table, and ordered some sangria, and about six tapas dishes. The menu was comprehensive and inventive. The food was even better. It was a great meal.
We discussed diving, and I said that I wasn't very confident doing anything very deep or ambitious, and so we decided that Christian would do the more advanced dives the next morning and I would find something else to do. I was keen for him to get some diving done. So we walked back to Mar y Mas and he signed up for the next day. He would have to do a medical in order to go ahead, and a doctor was coming in that morning.
While there, we decided to hire some kayaks and pootle around the bay for the afternoon, so we went back to the apartment, got our wetsuits on, packed our snorkelling gear, and headed back to Waikiki beach.
Roberto got the kayaks ready for us, and we tied on the dry bag with our gear in it, and set off into the wind. The conditions weren't great, but we made good progress. As we got a fair way out, Christian decided to tether his kayak to mine and do a bit of snorkelling. This wasn't ideal, as there was a kayak in the way of where I wanted to paddle, and I was getting a bit seasick looking down. He had a quick look around, then gave up and reclaimed his kayak. We paddled all the way into the main Corralejo bay, and beached the kayaks. We both had a snorkel there. There wasn't much to see, but there were a few small silver fish.
It was pretty cold, and so we headed back to Waikiki beach to give the kayaks back within the hour, and did a few circles on the way to fill in time.
Back on the shore, we saw some people on paddle boards, and after some debate, we decided to hire one between us for another hour to have a go.
Christian went first, and did very well, apart from falling to his knees a couple of times. I was a bit afraid of being crap, but I managed to stand up too. The wind made it incredibly difficult to steer sensibly, and I nearly lost it a few times. A man on the shore was using my bad technique to advise Christian, and Christian then passed it on to me. He had another try, using man's improvements. I had another go too, using man's improvements, but I found that that made it more difficult.
Anyway, it was fun to try, and I'd like to have a go in calmer conditions. The sun came out during our exertions as well, which was nice. We got no photos, though, as we took no devices.
We took the board back before our hour was up, and headed back to the apartment.
From what I remember, we caught up on the internet, cooked and ate pasta, and watched TV that evening.
We discovered the restaurant strip that followed the beach, which mostly retained the Spanish charm (apart from the Gordon Ramsay restaurant), and found our way onto Waikiki Beach. Paula had recommended Mar y Mas diving shop, and we went in to talk to them. She'd mentioned Roberto, but I hadn't remembered his name. We found ourselves talking to Roberto, and he explained the diving options. There was a discovery dive that I could do without a licence for €90, and more advanced dives that Christian could do for much less. We took the information, and went to think about it.
We walked up to the port, being exposed to the worst of the wind coming from the north-west. You can clearly see Lanzarote to the north, and Lobos Island to the north-east. We walked around the top of the breakwall.
There was an Armas car ferry that went to Lanzarote, and a Fred Olsen fast cat that also went to Lanzarote. Various small boats went to Lobos. We spoke to a couple of people about prices for going to both places and they were reasonable, but without knowing what our other plans were, we couldn't really book anything. The kayaking/snorkelling people had got back to say that conditions would make the excursion we'd booked impossible, which was a real shame as I'd been looking forward to it.
We were hungry by now, and on our stroll back to the restaurants, allowed ourselves to get talked into tapas at the first restaurant after the fish co-op (which smelt amazing but didn't have a wonderful menu - and there was only outdoor seating). We got a sheltered table, and ordered some sangria, and about six tapas dishes. The menu was comprehensive and inventive. The food was even better. It was a great meal.
We discussed diving, and I said that I wasn't very confident doing anything very deep or ambitious, and so we decided that Christian would do the more advanced dives the next morning and I would find something else to do. I was keen for him to get some diving done. So we walked back to Mar y Mas and he signed up for the next day. He would have to do a medical in order to go ahead, and a doctor was coming in that morning.
While there, we decided to hire some kayaks and pootle around the bay for the afternoon, so we went back to the apartment, got our wetsuits on, packed our snorkelling gear, and headed back to Waikiki beach.
Roberto got the kayaks ready for us, and we tied on the dry bag with our gear in it, and set off into the wind. The conditions weren't great, but we made good progress. As we got a fair way out, Christian decided to tether his kayak to mine and do a bit of snorkelling. This wasn't ideal, as there was a kayak in the way of where I wanted to paddle, and I was getting a bit seasick looking down. He had a quick look around, then gave up and reclaimed his kayak. We paddled all the way into the main Corralejo bay, and beached the kayaks. We both had a snorkel there. There wasn't much to see, but there were a few small silver fish.
It was pretty cold, and so we headed back to Waikiki beach to give the kayaks back within the hour, and did a few circles on the way to fill in time.
Back on the shore, we saw some people on paddle boards, and after some debate, we decided to hire one between us for another hour to have a go.
Christian went first, and did very well, apart from falling to his knees a couple of times. I was a bit afraid of being crap, but I managed to stand up too. The wind made it incredibly difficult to steer sensibly, and I nearly lost it a few times. A man on the shore was using my bad technique to advise Christian, and Christian then passed it on to me. He had another try, using man's improvements. I had another go too, using man's improvements, but I found that that made it more difficult.
Anyway, it was fun to try, and I'd like to have a go in calmer conditions. The sun came out during our exertions as well, which was nice. We got no photos, though, as we took no devices.
We took the board back before our hour was up, and headed back to the apartment.
From what I remember, we caught up on the internet, cooked and ate pasta, and watched TV that evening.
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