Surfing in the Canary Islands in January

Conditions in January

Water temp. : 19 °C
Wetsuit : 3/2 mm fullsuit

January sits in the middle of the north-west groundswell season. The lows that form between Newfoundland and Iceland send swell down the Atlantic with the length behind it, and length is what matters here: the reefs on the north shore of Fuerteventura need twelve seconds or more before they start to break properly. In January they get it about twenty-five days out of thirty.

The alisios are gone until June, so mornings and afternoons are both in play, and Lanzarote's heavy reefs at El Quemao and San Juan are on. The water is at 19°C, which is a 3/2 and nothing more. What January costs you is space: it is high season for European winter holidays as well as for surf, and the good reefs have a crowd and a local pecking order to go with it.

Learning in January

Go to the sand. The thirty kilometres between Corralejo and El Cotillo break all winter and forgive, and the reefs in January do not.

Where a beginner goes in January

These spots are reachable all year. What the month changes is the size of the waves, not the access.

Playa de Famara
LanzaroteBeginner

For an experienced surfer

Surf : Excellent

Peak season with the crowd that goes with it. If you want the same swell with the car park empty, come in February or March instead.

How January compares

All twelve months, side by side

Where these figures come from

Air, rain and sunshine: WMO / NOAA 1991-2020 normals for Agadir Al Massira, a station some twenty kilometres inland and so a little warmer than the coast in summer. Swell, period and share of workable wind: Swell Archive and surf-forecast. Water temperature: seatemperature.org and weather-and-climate. Crowds and prices are an editorial judgement, not a measurement.