Corralejo Natural Park

Pale dunes roll straight down to the Atlantic, and from their crests you can watch kitesurfers working along the coast. The sand is almost white and powder-fine, and it comes from the sea itself: mollusc shells and the skeletons of other marine creatures, broken down and heaped up by the wind.

These are the largest dunes in the Canary Islands, yet they are easy to climb, and stepping off the road is enough to put you among curves of sand with nothing else in sight. Under the moving dunes lie older, fossil ones, probably from the late Pleistocene, and in places along the shore a fossil beach shows through, studded with the remains of marine life. Below, the beaches run on so far that parking lines the road for much of their length, and the water is cold and very clear.

• There are no toilets, drinking water or information point by the dunes, and none nearby — bring water with you.
• The dunes have no shade at all; a hat and sun protection matter more here than on most beaches.
• The sea is cold and very clear, and the open coast is where kitesurfers come for the wind.
• Wind lifts the sand: keep cameras and phones covered and expect grit in your eyes on breezy days.
• Sand drifts onto the road through the park, so drive slowly and watch the verges when you pull in.

A road runs through the dunes, and most visitors arrive by car and simply pull over: parking along the roadside is plentiful, since the beach stretches over such a large area, and there are both free and paid car parks as well. Watch for sand spilling onto the tarmac as you go.

A bus runs from the centre of Corralejo; the stop named Hotels Tres Islas is about 3.1 km away in a straight line. Walking in from the town centre takes about an hour and a half each way. A good loop goes out alongside the road and comes back along the ocean front, with the dunes on one side and the sea on the other.

Best: early morning or late afternoon.

Avoid: the middle of the day, and days of strong wind.

A low sun picks out the ripples and curves of the dunes and keeps the heat bearable, while at midday the pale sand throws back glare and there is no shade anywhere; a strong wind drives the sand into the air.

The dunes have been a protected natural park since 1994, and the protection exists for the moving dune field itself. Keep vehicles on the road and in the car parks and never drive onto the sand. Leave the sand, shells and the fossil beach deposits where they are: the dunes are built from that shell material.