Costa Teguise and Playa Blanca are the two resort areas families weigh up most often when planning a Lanzarote holiday. Both have calm beaches, walkable promenades, restaurants where kids are welcome and easy access to the rest of the island. The differences are in scale, distance, climate and which beaches you get five minutes from your front door.
We live in Costa Teguise and host Casa Los Alisios. Families regularly arrive on day one having spent weeks debating these two resorts on travel forums, and the question lands at our kitchen table. This is the answer we give them. It is honest, because we would rather host a family who picked Costa Teguise on purpose than one who arrives wishing they had booked the other end of the island. Some categories Playa Blanca wins. We say so where it does.
Quick comparison: Costa Teguise vs Playa Blanca for families
| Costa Teguise | Playa Blanca | |
|---|---|---|
| Distance to airport | 15 km / 20 min | 35 km / 30 to 40 min |
| Trade wind exposure | Strong (cool nights, fans only) | Sheltered (warmer, AC needed) |
| Calmest family beach | Playa del Jablillo (sea wall, sandy) | Playa Dorada and Playa Flamingo (breakwaters, Blue Flag) |
| Best beach excursion | Famara, La Graciosa | Papagayo natural reserve (15 min drive) |
| Waterparks | Aquapark Costa Teguise | Aqualava (newer, with wave pool) and Dino |
| Aquarium | Lanzarote Aquarium (in town) | None in town |
| Marina | None | Marina Rubicón, with mini golf and ferries |
| Ferry to Fuerteventura | None direct | 25 to 35 min crossing, up to 24 daily sailings |
| Driving time to Timanfaya | 30 min | 25 min |
| Driving time to Famara | 20 min | 40 min |
| Driving time to Teguise market | 10 min | 35 min |
| Resort population | smaller, more residential | around 14,300 |
| Best for families who | want a central base, cooler nights and short transfers | want the calmest beaches, marina vibe and easy Fuerteventura access |
Where do these two resorts sit on the map?
Costa Teguise is on the east coast in the municipality of Teguise, 15 km north of Lanzarote Airport, around 20 minutes by taxi or bus. Playa Blanca is at the southern tip of the island in the municipality of Yaiza, 35 km from the airport, 30 to 40 minutes by taxi depending on traffic on the LZ-2 motorway.
That airport gap matters more than it sounds when you are landing with small children at 22:00. Twenty extra minutes of motorway with a toddler past their bedtime, then an unfamiliar bedroom, is the difference between everyone going to bed quickly and a long evening. Costa Teguise wins this category clearly.
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Which side has calmer beaches for kids?
For very young children, Playa Blanca wins on calm water and it wins it convincingly.
Two beaches do most of the work. Playa Dorada is a horseshoe of soft sand protected by a breakwater, with lifeguards, showers and umbrella rentals, and water that barely ripples. It carries a Blue Flag for water quality and beach management. Playa Flamingo, a few minutes further west, is protected by two breakwaters and has the calmest swimming on the south coast, which is why everyone with a 2-year-old ends up there. Sand bottom, no real waves, gentle slope into the water.
Costa Teguise has its own calm-water option. Playa del Jablillo is a small cove enclosed by an artificial sea wall, sandy at low tide, and one of the safest sea swims on the island for toddlers. It is one bay, not three, so on busy August weekends it fills up. Las Cucharas, the main Costa Teguise beach, is 650 metres of dark golden sand and is calm enough for older children but it is genuinely a windsurf beach, with sails on the water most afternoons. Las Cucharas hosts international windsurf and triathlon events, which is great if your kids are 10 and curious and less great if you wanted a flat puddle for a baby.
If your child is still happy paddling at the edge, book Playa Blanca. If your child wants bodyboards, a first windsurf lesson and proper splashing about, Costa Teguise has more variety inside a 40 minute walk. We covered all five Costa Teguise bays in our guide to the best beaches in Costa Teguise.
Where is the most beautiful family beach trip on the island?
Playa Blanca, hands down. The Papagayo beaches are a chain of five sandy bays inside the Monumento Natural de Los Ajaches, a protected coastal reserve that starts just east of the resort. You drive 15 minutes from town along an unpaved track, pay €3 per car at the gatehouse (card only, 08:00 to 16:00, free after 16:00), and arrive at coves with sheltered turquoise water, no buildings, no music, no all-inclusive towels. There are pop-up beach bars at the top of two of the coves in summer. The water is calm because the bays face north and east into the lee of the cliffs.
It is the single best beach experience for families in Lanzarote. From Costa Teguise it is 50 minutes each way, which is a doable day trip but not a casual afternoon. From Playa Blanca it is on your doorstep.
The Costa Teguise equivalents are different in character. Famara, on the north coast, is a long wild Atlantic beach in a cliff amphitheatre and is where local surf schools take families with older kids. La Graciosa, the eighth Canary island, is a 25 minute ferry from Órzola and has white-sand beaches with no roads. Both are 20 to 35 minutes from Costa Teguise, and we wrote up the latter in our La Graciosa day trip guide. Different aesthetic. Famara has surf and weather. Papagayo has calm and sun.
Which has better waterparks and indoor family stuff?
Roughly even, with Playa Blanca slightly ahead on waterparks and Costa Teguise ahead on aquariums.
Playa Blanca has Aqualava Waterpark, Lanzarote’s newest waterpark, built around volcanic-themed landscaping and a sustainability brief: renewable energy, geothermal pool heating and the only wave pool on the island. It has a dedicated child area called Corsario Bay with shallow pools and gentler slides for under-fives, and bigger flumes and a lazy river (Magma River) for older kids. Dino Waterpark, in the town centre, is smaller and aimed at toddlers, with animal-themed slides and shallow play areas. There is also a mini golf course at Marina Rubicón.
Costa Teguise has Aquapark Costa Teguise, the older and more established island waterpark, with the same split between toddler areas and bigger slides, plus a lazy river. Lanzarote Aquarium at Centro Comercial Costa Teguise is the only aquarium in Lanzarote and has sharks, rays and a tank you can walk under. It is genuinely good on a windy or rainy afternoon. There are also two playgrounds inside the resort and a buggy-friendly promenade end to end.
If your family routine includes one waterpark day, Aqualava is the newer option. If you want an aquarium, Costa Teguise has it.
Which is cooler in summer for sleeping with kids?
Costa Teguise. By a margin that matters with small children.
The “alisios” in our villa name are the trade winds. Lanzarote sits in their path and the east coast catches them straight on. Costa Teguise is on a flat plateau facing northeast into the breeze, the housing was built to channel it, and the wind drops the air temperature by several degrees in the late afternoon and evening. We have not personally needed air-conditioning at the villa except during the rare Calima or African heatwave days that hit a couple of times a year. Fans are enough.
Playa Blanca sits at the southern tip in the lee of the central highlands, which block the same wind. The south coast is the warmest and calmest part of the island. That is great for swimming and harder for sleeping in August. Most apartments and hotels in Playa Blanca are built with AC for that reason. If you book Playa Blanca for a summer trip, check that the property has working AC in the bedrooms, not only in the lounge. If you book Costa Teguise, the wind is your AC for most of the year, and a fan is enough on the warmest nights. The same exposure is why Las Cucharas is the best windsurfing beach in Lanzarote.
Marina Rubicón vs Pueblo Marinero
Both resorts have a walkable evening square that takes the place of a town centre. They are very different experiences.
Marina Rubicón in Playa Blanca is a real working marina with seafood restaurants along the dock, a craft and produce market on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 09:00 to 14:00, the mini golf and the ferry departures to Fuerteventura. It is bigger, busier and more visibly developed. Buggies work fine on the dock and there is plenty of space to spread out.
Pueblo Marinero in Costa Teguise is a small square designed by César Manrique. White walls, low-rise architecture, restaurants on three sides. Every Friday evening from around 17:00 to 22:00 it fills with a craft market: roughly 80 stalls of Canarian crafts, aloe vera, leather, jewellery, local wines and cheese, with live folk music. It is smaller and quieter than Marina Rubicón. Children run around the central square while parents eat. Casa Los Alisios is a 30 minute walk away along the promenade, or a 5 minute drive.
If “marina” is part of the holiday picture you have in your head, Playa Blanca delivers it. If you want a small Manrique-designed plaza that families dominate after dark, Costa Teguise.
Day trips and what each is closest to
This is where Costa Teguise comes out ahead overall, and the gap is not subtle.
| Destination | From Costa Teguise | From Playa Blanca |
|---|---|---|
| Lanzarote Airport | 20 min | 30 to 40 min |
| Arrecife (capital) | 15 min | 35 min |
| Timanfaya National Park | 30 min | 25 min |
| La Geria wine country | 20 min | 25 min |
| Famara beach (north coast) | 20 min | 40 min |
| La Graciosa ferry (Órzola) | 35 min | 45 min |
| Sunday Teguise market | 10 min | 35 min |
| Mirador del Río (north tip) | 35 min | 50 min |
Playa Blanca is closer to Timanfaya by 5 minutes and to Papagayo by 35 minutes. Costa Teguise is closer to almost everything else, including Arrecife, the airport, the north of the island and the Sunday market in Teguise old town. If your holiday is “we are going to see Lanzarote”, Costa Teguise sits more central. If your holiday is “we will spend most of it on Playa Dorada and do one Timanfaya day”, Playa Blanca is the more efficient base. Our guide to top things to see in Lanzarote covers most of the day trip stops, and the Timanfaya guide is the one most families do.
Playa Blanca’s secret weapon: the ferry to Corralejo
If you want to add Fuerteventura or Isla de Lobos to a Lanzarote holiday, Playa Blanca makes it a short day. The crossing from Playa Blanca to Corralejo on the north tip of Fuerteventura is 25 to 35 minutes, with up to 24 daily sailings split between Fred Olsen Express, Naviera Armas and Lineas Marítimas Romero, from around €17. The first sailing is at 06:50 and the last back is around 20:00. Walk on, no booking needed off-peak, foot passengers and cars both fine.
From Corralejo you can reach the long sand-dune beaches of Corralejo Natural Park, or jump on a smaller ferry to Isla de Lobos for the day. Costa Teguise can do the same trip but with an extra 35 minutes of driving each way to and from the ferry. If a Fuerteventura day is the headline of the holiday, this is a reason to base in Playa Blanca.
Honest verdict: which one for which family?
Pick Playa Blanca if: your kids are toddlers and beach time means flat wading water, you want Papagayo within 15 minutes, you plan a Fuerteventura day trip, you do not mind a longer airport transfer, and you are happy in a hotel or apartment with AC.
Pick Costa Teguise if: you want the shortest possible airport transfer with tired children, you are travelling in summer and want naturally cool nights without AC, you want an aquarium plus a waterpark plus the only Manrique-designed square on the east coast inside walking distance, and you plan to see the north of the island, the Sunday market or La Graciosa during the trip.
Both are honest answers. We host in Costa Teguise because it is where we live. If a family’s whole holiday is built around Playa Dorada and a ferry to Fuerteventura, we tell them so. If their holiday is “see Lanzarote with kids”, Costa Teguise is the more central base, and that is the case we are happy to make.
For the third side of the same comparison, see our companion post on Costa Teguise vs Puerto del Carmen. For what to actually do once you have decided, things to do in Costa Teguise with kids and the best things to do in Costa Teguise cover most of the family routine.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Is Playa Blanca better for families with toddlers than Costa Teguise?
- For pure calm-water swimming with very small children, yes. Playa Dorada and Playa Flamingo in Playa Blanca are protected by breakwaters and have almost no waves, which is what you want with a 2-year-old. Costa Teguise has Playa del Jablillo, also protected by a sea wall and good with toddlers, but it is one small bay rather than a chain. Costa Teguise is closer to the airport and naturally cooler in summer, which matters more once kids are walking and sleeping in unfamiliar rooms.
- How long is the airport transfer to Costa Teguise vs Playa Blanca?
- Costa Teguise is 15 km and around 20 minutes by taxi (€18 to €22). Playa Blanca is 35 km and 30 to 40 minutes (around €40 to €55). With small children after a long-haul flight this matters. Costa Teguise wins on transfer time. Playa Blanca wins if you are flying into Fuerteventura instead and using the ferry to Corralejo.
- Which side has calmer beaches for swimming with kids?
- Playa Blanca. The southern coast sits in the lee of the trade wind and the resort beaches were built or rebuilt with breakwaters, so Playa Dorada and Playa Flamingo are calm most days. Costa Teguise faces the trade wind directly and hosts international windsurf events at Las Cucharas. For windsurfing and family beach variety, Costa Teguise. For toddler-safe wading every day, Playa Blanca.
- Can you take a day trip to Fuerteventura from Costa Teguise?
- Yes, but you have to drive 35 minutes to Playa Blanca first to catch the ferry. From Playa Blanca the crossing to Corralejo, Fuerteventura takes 25 to 35 minutes with up to 24 daily sailings on Fred Olsen Express, Naviera Armas and Lineas Marítimas Romero, from around €17. If a Fuerteventura or Isla de Lobos trip is the centrepiece of your holiday, Playa Blanca makes the day shorter. If it is a one-time excursion, the extra drive from Costa Teguise is fine.
- Is Playa Blanca too far from Timanfaya and the north?
- It is closer to Timanfaya than Costa Teguise (25 minutes vs 30 minutes) but further from everything else. Famara is 40 minutes from Playa Blanca and 20 minutes from Costa Teguise. Sunday market in Teguise is 35 minutes from Playa Blanca and 10 minutes from Costa Teguise. The La Graciosa ferry at Órzola is 45 minutes from Playa Blanca and 35 from Costa Teguise. If you want to see all of Lanzarote in one trip, Costa Teguise is more central.
Planning your trip? Book Casa Los Alisios
