What you can see on the Puerto del Carmen webcam
This camera moves. It turns between ten positions and holds each one for about half a minute: along the sand of Playa Grande, onto the black rocks and palms at the end of the beach, across the bay and out towards the little island of Lobos and the volcanic hills of Fuerteventura. Stay for a few minutes and you get the whole beach: how many sunbeds are taken, whether there are swimmers in the water, and what the sea looks like from the shore to the horizon.
Playa Grande, Puerto del Carmen, from the Long Beach Club
This camera is mounted at the Long Beach Club on Playa Grande, the main beach of Puerto del Carmen, and it does not stand still. It cycles through ten positions, changing view about every 30 seconds: along the sand to the rocks and palms at the end of the beach, out across the bay, and over to the island of Lobos and the hills of Fuerteventura on the horizon.
Because it moves, watching for a few minutes gives you the whole beach: the sunbeds, the swimmers, the colour of the water and the size of the waves on the shore. The date, the time and the place are written in the top corner, so you always know you are watching it live.
From La Tiñosa to Puerto del Carmen
Long before the hotels, this was La Tiñosa, a natural anchorage that the engineer Leonardo Torriani described in 1591, and later a small fishing village. It took the name Puerto del Carmen in 1957, in honour of Our Lady of Carmen, and tourism arrived with the opening of the Hotel Los Fariones in 1967. The old harbour at the western end still has its fishing boats, and Playa Chica beside it is one of the island's busiest spots for scuba diving, with clear water most of the year.
When to watch Puerto del Carmen
Lanzarote keeps the same time as the UK and Ireland. The beach faces the morning sun, so the first hours of the day are the brightest on camera, while the evening light is softer and falls from behind the town. The sea here is around 19 °C in late winter and around 23 °C at the end of summer. The north-east trade wind blows mostly along the coast, and on breezy afternoons you will see it in the ruffled water and the flags.
Around Puerto del Carmen
The promenade continues east past Los Pocillos towards Matagorda, a long, easy seafront walk. Westwards, the marina of Puerto Calero is a short hop along the coast, and inland the lava fields and craters of Timanfaya National Park are a short drive away.
Visiting Puerto del Carmen
Lanzarote airport is only about 3½ miles (6 km) away as the crow flies, which makes the resort quick to reach after a flight. Playa Grande is the most popular stretch of sand: check the flags on the beach before swimming, and keep well away from the rocks when there is a swell.
