La Solapa Beach

The sand comes first: black and white grains streaked through each other, so the pattern shifts as you walk the beach. Beyond it the water runs turquoise and the Atlantic arrives in big, crashing waves. Few people make the drive down the dirt track, and the beach is often close to empty.

When the tide is out, the shore opens towards caves on the left-hand side as you face the ocean. They can only be reached from the beach, and only while the water is low.

• The sea is rough and the waves break hard on the shore; the water is not for swimming.
• The caves on the left as you face the ocean are reachable only from the beach at low tide, so check the tide times first.
• There are no toilets and no drinking water at the beach or nearby; bring water with you.
• There is nothing on the sand to take rubbish away, so carry yours back out.

You need a car. The last stretch is several kilometres of dirt track, around eight minutes of driving. It is an ordinary Fuerteventura track, without big stones or sandy stretches, but other drivers take it too fast, so keep your own speed down and watch for oncoming cars raising dust.

The nearest public transport stop is about 4.5 km away in a straight line, which rules out arriving by bus.

Best: at low tide, when the shore opens towards the caves, and in the late afternoon, when the sun drops over the sea.

Avoid: high tide if the caves are the reason you came, and days of big swell if you plan to walk along the waterline.

The tide decides how much of the shore you can walk, and on a west-facing coast the evening light comes straight off the water.