If you ever have the opportunity to see an aerial photograph of southern Lanzarote, it is clear to see that Playa Blanca is actually sitting in the heart of a large natural bay almost 9km across.

Although this area of coastline features a number of beaches of varying size and quality, most visitors to Playa Blanca sadly never explore beyond the main town beach from which the resort takes in name.

The white beach, at 40m long is actually quite small, and during summer weekends can become quite crowded at times. Nevertheless, it has been awarded the internationally recognised blue flag for its facilities, cleanliness, and water quality.

The Playa Flamingo beach is a few minutes walk away to the west, on the opposite side of the port, and can be reached for the most part by the wide traffic free promenade that joins the two halves of the resort. This beach itself is very attractive, with fine golden white sands, and is very popular with families.

The third beach, Playa Dorada, at only 30m long is even smaller than Playa Blanca, and again its fine white sands have been awarded the prestigious European Blue Flag.

Of the two beaches I actually prefer Playa Blanca, as the beach at Playa Dorada shelves quite steeply only a few metres offshore.

However quite conversely, Playa Dorada is actually more popular with local residents with many choosing it for an early morning swim before breakfast.

Although much larger than all of the other beaches put together, the beach at Playa de Las Coloradas is quite remote and offers visitors no facilities or services whatsoever.

Due to its remoteness however, Playa de Las Coloradas is actually becoming quite popular with naturists, and now features on a number of their recommended web sites.

The final beach worth a mention here are those around the Papagayo headland at the extreme eastern end of the bay, some 4.1/2 miles from the centre of Playa Blanca.

Papagayo is now a specially protected area, and future building and development works along this part of the coast is now totally prohibited.

The half dozen or so beaches that make up Papagayo, are widely considered by many, to be some of the best beaches in the whole of Spain.

However actually getting there from Playa Blanca can be quite difficult as the road, although considered to be "safe", is extremely rough and bumpy and is best approached in a 4x4.

As a more practical alternative a "sea taxi" also operates from the harbour at Playa Blanca throughout the day, taking around 1/2 an hour to make the short journey.

As with Playa de Las Coloradas, the beaches around Papagayo are particularly popular with nudists.