Ocean Lava Lanzarote 2026: Where to Stay

Ocean Lava Lanzarote is a triathlon held in Puerto del Carmen on the south coast of Lanzarote, founded in 2010 by Kenneth Gasque, the same Dane who launched Ironman Lanzarote in 1992. The 2026 edition runs on Saturday 24 October. Four categories on offer: Super Sprint, Olympic individual, and Olympic Relay in either two or three-person teams. The Half distance that ran in earlier years is not part of the 2026 schedule.

We live in Costa Teguise and host Casa Los Alisios. Triathletes who book with us for race week want three things from a base: a quiet street to sleep before an early swim wave, secure storage for a bike box and wetsuit, and a short, simple drive to the transition area on race morning. We can do all three. Puerto del Carmen sits 20 minutes away on the LZ-2, and the villa is 15 minutes from ACE airport for the rental car run on the way in.

What is Ocean Lava Lanzarote?

A short and mid-distance triathlon series founded in 2010 by Kenneth Gasque, who is also the long-running race director of Ironman Lanzarote. The Lanzarote race is the original Ocean Lava event and the start of a venue list that has since grown into a Planet Series with stops across Europe and the Atlantic islands. Recent editions in Lanzarote have drawn athletes from over 40 nationalities, which gives the start area a noticeable mix of accents around the transition pen.

The race calls itself environmentally focused. For 2026 the organiser has dropped single-use plastic at aid stations and switched to digital-only race documentation, with expanded medical and physiotherapy services at the finish.

When is Ocean Lava 2026 and what are the distances?

Saturday 24 October 2026, in Puerto del Carmen. Four distance options:

Category	Swim	Bike	Run	Total
Super Sprint	0.4 km	11 km	2.5 km	13.9 km
Olympic individual	1.5 km	40 km	10 km	51.5 km
Olympic Relay (2 people)	1.5 km	40 km	10 km	51.5 km
Olympic Relay (3 people)	1.5 km	40 km	10 km	51.5 km

The Half distance (1.9 / 90 / 20) that was on the schedule in earlier years has been dropped for 2026. If you came looking for a long-course race in the same window, the closest options are Ironman Lanzarote in May or the Volcano Triathlon at Club La Santa in April. Ocean Lava in October is the short and mid-distance event of the year.

Drafting is allowed on the bike for both the Super Sprint and Olympic categories, which makes the race tactically different from a non-drafting Ironman. Mechanical coupling devices between team members on relays are not allowed.

Where do the swim, bike and run go?

Swim. Playa Grande, Puerto del Carmen. The Super Sprint does one 400 m lap. The Olympic does 1,500 m, normally one larger lap, with the route adjusted depending on sea state on the morning. Atlantic water in late October sits around 22 to 23°C and most age-groupers wear a wetsuit.

Bike. Out of transition along Avenida de las Playas, up Calle Noruega until it joins the LZ-40, then onto the LZ-40 axis with multi-lap turnarounds toward the airport. The Super Sprint is one loop on this axis. The Olympic does multiple laps to make 40 km. The route stays close to Puerto del Carmen rather than crossing the volcanic interior, which keeps the day shorter and the support logistics simple.

Run. Out-and-back along the seafront, leaving the transition park through Paseo del Parque de las Naciones, heading along Avenida de las Playas toward the Beatriz Playa hotel, then back. The Super Sprint is one lap of around 2.5 km. The Olympic is two laps for 10 km. The course is flat and exposed, so on a calm October morning it is fast.

Get directions from Casa Los Alisios to the swim start at Playa Grande.

Where do I register and how much does it cost?

Registration is handled on SportManiacs, linked from the official site at oceanlavalanzarote.com. The organiser sets pricing per category and updates the public price as registration windows progress, so check the live page for the current number per category.

Slots are capped per category. In recent editions the Olympic relay has filled before race week, so do not leave it to the last fortnight if you want a specific team setup. The 2026 race documentation is digital only, no paper folder, no plastic bags at the expo.

Why stay in Costa Teguise for Ocean Lava?

Three reasons.

First, quiet on race-week evenings. Puerto del Carmen has the start line, the expo, and the bars. It is also loud on Friday and Saturday night with non-race tourists who do not care that you have a 06:00 alarm. Costa Teguise is a calmer resort, with most of the night noise concentrated around Pueblo Marinero rather than spread along the seafront.

Second, a sensible 20-minute drive on race morning. The LZ-2 motorway between the two towns is fast, free, and quiet at 06:30. Parking near the transition area in Puerto del Carmen is fine if you arrive before 07:00. There are no road closures between Costa Teguise and Puerto del Carmen on race morning because the bike course stays on the LZ-40 corridor south of the LZ-2.

Third, training options on the doorstep. Open water swimming at Playa El Ancla, 10 minutes on foot from the villa, is a sheltered cove that works well for a pre-race swim. The 50 m heated Olympic pool at the Barceló in town is a 5-minute walk for race-week tapering. For bike legs, our road cycling guide covers five training routes from the doorstep, including the LZ-1 coastal road that links to the Ironman bike course.

For Casa Los Alisios specifically: a lockable storage room takes a bike box, two race bikes, two wetsuits and the rest of the kit at the same time. Parking sits at the front door for loading on race morning. The villa is single level, so there are no stairs to drag a bike up after a long race day. 1 Gb fibre with mesh wifi handles training-data uploads and video calls with a coach. The pool is communal, not private, and there is no outdoor shower (just a hose at the front for rinsing salt).

How does Costa Teguise compare to Puerto del Carmen for race week?

	Costa Teguise	Puerto del Carmen
Drive to transition	20 min	0-5 min
Drive to ACE airport	15 min	20 min
Late-night noise	Low	High in the resort core
Pre-race calm	High	Low race week
Training swim spot	El Ancla, 10 min walk	Playa Grande, on site
50 m pool access	Barceló, 5 min walk	Hotel pools only
Pre-race nutrition shopping	Spar 3 min, Lidl 10 min	Several supermarkets

Puerto del Carmen wins if you want to walk to transition and skip the drive. Costa Teguise wins if you want a quieter sleep, a calmer training swim, and a short hop to the airport on Sunday after the race.

For more on the trade-offs, see our Costa Teguise vs Puerto del Carmen comparison.

What gear do you actually need?

The basics for an October Lanzarote race:

• Wetsuit. Water in late October is 22 to 23°C. Wetsuits are normally allowed and most age-groupers wear one.
• Trisuit and goggles plus tinted lenses if you have them. The sun comes up around 08:00 in late October and the swim can have low-angle glare.
• Bike with a rear light and a windproof gilet for the LZ-40 exposed sections. Trade winds in October usually run 15 to 25 km/h, lower than the May Ironman wind but still on the nose for half of every lap.
• Running shoes suited to flat tarmac. The course is a fast promenade.
• Sun cream factor 50. The volcanic landscape has zero shade and October UV is still strong.
• Mobile phone for race communication and emergencies.

The villa storage room takes bike boxes, wetsuits and race bags without making the bedrooms feel like a transit lounge. The kitchen is set up for race nutrition prep with a hob, oven, fridge-freezer and a Nespresso machine.

How does Ocean Lava compare to Ironman Lanzarote?

Both races share Puerto del Carmen, share Playa Grande for the swim, and share Kenneth Gasque as founder. The difference is everything else.

Ironman is full distance, 226 km of racing with over 2,500 m of climbing on the bike, and a course that crosses the whole island from 07:00 to past midnight. Ocean Lava sits at the short end of the calendar with a Super Sprint and an Olympic distance, multi-lap turnarounds on the LZ-40, no big mountain climbs, and the whole race wrapped up before lunch.

For first-time triathletes, Ocean Lava is the gentler door into a Lanzarote race. For Ironman finishers using October as a fast top-up, the Olympic distance gives you a clean 51.5 km benchmark on familiar roads. For relay teams, it is one of the few Lanzarote races where you can split the day with friends.

If you are deciding between the two, our Ironman Lanzarote post covers the May race and the same villa logistics in more detail.

Plan a few days around the race

October is the back end of the long Lanzarote summer. Sea temperatures are still in the 22 to 23°C range, the trade winds have eased, and rain days are rare. If you are in for race week, our Lanzarote 7-day itinerary lays out a sensible mix of training rides, a Sunday market in Teguise the day after the race, and a slow morning at La Geria the day after that.

Good luck on race day.