Fuerteventura - Canary Islands
 

We are four adults who will spend a week in Fuerteventura in mid May. We like hiking and exploring so we will rent a car. While we like a pretty beach, we don't plan on spending the day sunbathing. We do not plan to take part in the bar scene, but two of the group are foodies. What part of the island should we look to stay at? Any recommendations for things to do or restaurants?

I haven't been, but my husband says that the only things to do there are the beach and bars. The roads are good but quite narrow. Have fun !

There is excellent hiking on El Hierro and La Gomera. No idea about Fuerteventura. For restaurant suggestions, walk into a bank or mobile phone shop and ask an employee.

protip: the sand for all the beaches is imported from the Sahara.

I am told the centre of the island, maybe Calete del Fuste is a good base for touring and away from the tourist beaches.
It is pretty much a desert island - the sand dunes do indeed come from the Sahara, Though they are blown there, as well as the beaches.
You could get a ferry of to Lanzarote for a day out.

http://fuerteventura.com/ tells you something of the island.

Why did you choose Fuerteventura over any of the other islands if you don't know much about it, and don't want to spend you time on the beach/bar scene? Maybe you can change to one of the other islands?

The main resort for English speaking tourists is Corralejo, up in the North East, but still only half an hour from the airport. The small centre has lots of different restaurants, including Indian, Chinese, fast food, but also some very good Spanish and International places.

The small village of Villa Verde has a really nice restaurant called El Horno, just a few k's outside of Corralejo. The island is well worth seeing and the weather in mid May should be pleasant. There is a good choice of hotels and apartments in the area, good food shops if you self cater too and excellent seafood to buy for cooking at home or in a restaurant.

I've cycled all over, some issues that may frustrate is the the national parks have been slightly illegally built over, but if I had to choose one base it would be the deep south with easy access into the main national park. Base on the south east side makes most sense for lovely little bays and small towns.

The main town, middle of the east coast, is frankly a dump. Watch out for the imported chipmonks that have invaded and taken over the lizard's natural role on the island. neither are a danger, but interesting enough.

Now the name means something like "strong wind" so what does that tell you about the one key feature of the weather?