Although much more of a residential area than a resort, Playa Honda has a great stretch of beach, sea front properties available for holiday rental, a recently revamped boutique hotel and an atmospheric promenade with authentic tapas bars overlooking the ocean.
General Information
Location
With its outer perimeter bordered by the main dual carriageway, tourists can often overlook Playa Honda. Yet it has a wonderful stretch of five kilometres of sand along its coastal edge, numerous tapas bars both on the promenade and in the town itself. And is also home to Deiland, one of the major shopping centres on the island – along with the more modern Biosfera Centre in nearby Puerto del Carmen.
Visitors to Lanzarote get their first taste of Playa Honda as their plane descends, as Arrecife airport is just at the outer limits of the town. This area, including the airport, is known locally as Guacimeta – and the beach here extends right up to the runway. Where sometimes plane enthusiasts can be found watching the arrival and departure of flights to Lanzarote.
All along the seafront is a wide paved promenade, which is excellent for a leisurely stroll by the sea, especially during the early evening hours. And which now extends all the way from the capital Arrecife into Puerto del Carmen. Starting at the airport end, the walkway passes numerous bars and restaurants, some of which have tables right next to the beach.
Places to Eat in Playa Honda
Restaurant Mesana
Offering a good array of tapas dishes but also has a full menu for longer meals. With a few tables and chairs at the front, it is a great place to watch the world go by. In the interior, there is a lovely room that can be hired privately, overlooking the beach and the seafront.
Mesana, Calle Mesana 15 Telephone: 928 823 665
Emmax
Another restaurant that takes advantage of this great waterfront location is Emmax. Open for three years, the establishment offers a full range of meal opportunities, including breakfast, lunch, dinner and vegetarian offerings. This venture is the joint effort of the chefs who ran a successful trattoria in Puerto Calero for several years.
Avenida Playa Honda, 21 Telephone: 928 820 917
Aguaviva
Back from the beach front and on the airport side of town is the highly popular and up-market Agua Viva restaurant. Regarded as one of the leading island restaurants, specialising in steaks.
Calle de Mástil, 31. Telephone: 928 821 505
Tapas Bars
The tapas bars continue, as does the promenade, with La Marea de Barlovento and Los Robles amongst those to be found here. At the further end of the walkway, the town of Playa Honda joins its neighbour of La Concha, a much smaller conurbation. Before flowing on into El Cable – which is regarded as an up-market suburb of Arrecife.
Places to stay in Playa Honda
Apart from bars and restaurants the promenade has numerous houses that face onto the sea. What these properties lack in privacy they make up for in terms of location, as there are few places on the island where one can walk out of the door straight on to the beach. A couple of surviving fishermen’s cottages have actually been built on the rocks and sand, only metres from the waves.
Apartments
There are two holiday complexes in La Concha, which is just next to Playa Honda in the direction of Arrecife. One being Playa Flor, which has over ninety bungalows and four swimming pools.
The other is Coral Beach, a more prestigious development with spacious gardens and bungalows, each with luxury features such as Jacuzzis.
Boutique Hotel
The La Concha area is also home to a small, boutique hotel – Hotel Villa Vik – formerly known as La Quinta – and now part of the same group as the better known San Antonio Hotel in Puerto del Carmen.
The 5 star Villa Vik boasts 14 well appointed rooms and was fully renovated in 2007. Prices are a little on the high side though – with a double room including bed and breakfast working out at approximately €200 per night in June.
Things to do in Playa Honda
Playa Honda's a great place for a seafront stroll along the promenade. The shopping centre at Deiland is situated close to the exit from Playa Honda onto the dual carriageway. With a cinema, bowling alley, supermarket and numerous retail outlets, this is a one-stop spot for visitors staying in the area.
How to get there
If you are approaching from Puerto del Carmen, you should take the first exit after the airport from the main dual carriageway (the LZ2), which is sign posted Playa Honda. If you continue down Calle de Mástil, which is the first right hand exit at the roundabout, you will come out at the start of the seafront promenade in Playa Honda.
If you are approaching from Costa Teguise, you need to leave the dual carriageway (the LZ2) where San Bartolomé and Playa Honda are sign posted (opposite Deiland). Follow this slip road past Mega Centro, Kit Muebles and Congelados Roper until the roundabout, then take the fourth exit under the motorway and you will come out in Playa Honda.