El Cotillo, Fuerteventura

El Cotillo is two coasts pretending to be one small town, and that split is the whole pleasure of the place. Walk north from the village and the land breaks into a chain of reef sheltered lagoons, shallow pools of clear turquoise shaped like shells, where an outer reef takes the sting out of the Atlantic and leaves water calm enough for children to wade. This is the gentle, postcard side of El Cotillo, with La Concha the loveliest pool of the lot, lovely enough to have earned its own guide. Come early, because the small car parks fill fast once the island families arrive.

The honest read is to know which way to turn. South of the old watchtower the coast changes character completely, opening into long beaches of golden sand that face the full ocean. These are the surf beaches, often signed as Playa del Castillo or Los Lagos, and they are wonderful to walk and to ride but carry rip currents and a heavy shore break that catch people out every season. Treat the northern lagoons as your swimming and the southern beaches as your surfing and sunset walking, and El Cotillo gives you the best of both without any of the disappointment.

For a wanderer who measures a beach by the lunch that follows it, the harbour is the reason to stay past your swim. The old fishing port is tiny and unhurried, its terraces stacked above the water serving fish landed that morning, octopus, limpets and the island's nutty Majorero goat cheese. La Vaca Azul and El Roque Los Pescadores are the tables travellers come back for, both perched for the sunset, while Azzurro up by the lagoons does a fine Italian lunch when you come off the sand. Lagoon in the morning, surf and a walk in the afternoon, fish and cold wine as the sky turns. That is El Cotillo at its honest best.