Orzola Town

Lanzarote holiday planner quick facts and ratings:-

8/10 – Overall rating

10/10 – ferry services to La Graciosa
8/10 – selection of restaurants and bars
8/10 – walking and exploring
7/10 – natural beauty
6/10 –  sand quality and colour at the beach
4/10 – swimming safety at the beach
7/10 – access and parking (except in high season and weekends)
7/10 – water quality and clarity at the beach
8/10 – local amentities
7/10 – finding your own sunbathing beach space at the beach

Drive times

30 minute drive time from Costa Teguise
40 minutes drive time from Puerto del Carmen
60 minutes drive time from Playa Blanca

Orzola town, harbour and beach in the distance. See the red ferry boat for La Graciosa.

Orzola overview

On the Northern tip of Lanzarote is a town called Orzola. This small town has a port with the only ferry service to the island of La Graciosa. Orzola is also a fishing village and now a picturesque town with lots of great restaurants.

Orzola Location

Getting there is easy if you have a hire car. Just follow LZ1 up the east coast road in a Northerly direction until you cannot go any further then turn right and head into the centre of Orzola town.

About Orzola

This is the most northern town in Lanzarote. The village is in the municipality of Haria.
The town was founded here for its natural harbour and fishing boat moorings. Then it started to run the ferry service for the residents of La Graciosa. In more recent times it has become very popular with tourists. Visitors not only flock to Orzola for the ferry service to La Graciosa but also for it beauty and numerous quality restaurants. Just outside the main town is also the lovely Orzola beach.

There is just one main street into town with a few residential back roads. All the shops, bars and restaurants are to be found along the one main high street. Traditional local foods including fish and meat are served all day long in any one of the many restaurants.

At the end of the main street is the Orzola harbour and port. This is a small and picturesque harbour giving good shelter for the local fishing boats anchored within.

A regular ferry service runs from the harbour to the nearby island of La Graciosa

To the east of the main town is another section of Orzola around the old Salinas or Salt reclamation area. Park near the end of this part of town and see widespread rocks and numerous small lagoons. There is also a lovely coastal walk from this location to the next beach of Caleton Blanca.

Ferry from Orzola to La Graciosa

La Graciosa is the small island just off the North Coast of Lanzarote.

To get to La Graciosa there is a regular ferry service from the port in Orzola.

The Orzola to La Graciosa ferry service is run by two companies ‘Lineas Romero’ and ‘Biosfera Express’. The ferries run every half an hour. The first ferry of the day leaves Orzola at 8.30am. The last ferry leaving La Graciosa to Orzola leaves at 7pm. Costs are around 28 euros return for one adult.

The journey time on the ferry is just 25 minutes and is very pleasant. The routes passes close to the huge ‘Mirador del Rio’ cliffs which create an impressive view on any day. From there the boat cruises along the stretch of water between Lanzarote and La Graciosa and into the port of Caleta de Sebo.

Orzola Beach

Where the LZ1 ends and there is a right turn leading into Orzola town, take the first left after the right turn and drive along a track. Keep following track which eventually leads to Orzola beach officially known as ‘Playa de la Canteria’.

Orzola beach is a pretty and sandy beach about 350 meters long. Normally a quiet and peaceful beach with some nice walks. The sea is clear and fun in the shallows.

Behind and to the left side of the beach are some impressive and amazing towering cliffs sheltering the beach from Southerly and Westerly winds. To the right of the beach are rocks and some paths to explore and walk along.

At the end of the track leading from the main road to the beach is a well sized car park adjacent to the beach. If you are visiting in a campervan there is parking here. Along the track leading to the beach are some quiet side tracks to park up as well. This is a great place to park up in your campervan and enjoy the peace of the area.

At low tide you can walk around some rocks  that divide the beach and see the ‘Orzola cave’ plus get access to the other half of the beach. This section is more rocky but fun to explore. Take care not to get cut off by the incoming tide.

Orzola beach walking

There is a great walk along the escarpment up behind the beach. You will see it starting behind the parking area and it tracks across the steep incline that angles towards the beach itself. Follow the thin path as it rises up and parallels the main beach and second beach. The path is a little tricky in places and eventually just ends. Views are great from the path looking out over the bay and towards La Graciosa. Take care as it gets very narrow in places with a steep drop off to one side.

Another nice walk start to the right of the beach and heads towards Orzola town. This little path meanders its way close to the sea. There are some nice views to the sea and La Graciosa in the distance.

Costal walk from Orzola to Caleton Blanca

To enjoy the lovely coastal walk from Orzola to Caleton Blanca first park in the Easterly section of Orzola. To get to this part of town take one of the small roads on the right off the main road leading into town. Follow this road around the old salt reclamation area until you cannot drive any further. At the beginning of the walk you will see the small rocky cove in the picture above. Follow the coast and path along past the ‘Charco de la Novia’ (Lagoon of the girl friend) until you get to Caleton Blanca. If you wish to walk further the coastal path keeps going as far as you want.

This is a great way to see some rarely seems parts of Lanzarote. You will often have these areas all to yourself.

Dangers, Rips and strong currents

Orzola beach faces North and can receive large waves, especially in Winter. If the waves are big that means there can be strong currents especially on the right edge of the beach near the rocks. Take great care of the rips. There is no lifeguard service on this beach so you are on your own.

Rips are strong water currents mainly created by the white water pushed towards shore by waves. The rips are created by the white water going back out to sea. Rips normally dissipate once beyond the breaking waves. The correct way to escape a rip current is to swim parallel to the beach, out of the rip then the back towards the beach. Rips are normally just a few meters wide. Do not swim straight towards the beach and against the strong current. The current can be going faster than you can swim. Keep calm and swim back to shore at a 45 degree angle to the beach so you swim across and out of the rip current. The areas in between waves where they do not break are where the rip currents are. If you swim into the area where the waves are breaking you often get washed back to the beach. Keep calm, take note of your position and steadily swim across and in. The best solution is avoidance so be careful and cautious of the currents, once over waist deep they can be hard to move against.