El Reducto (Arrecife): how to get there and today's wind
Arrecife's own beach: pale sand, calm water behind a breakwater, lifeguards and the city all around. The most convenient beach on the island.
El Reducto is Arrecife's beach, and it sits inside the city: you can walk to it from the centre. Pale sand, a palm-lined promenade behind, and water that stays still because a half-submerged barrier keeps the open swell out.
It is the most used urban beach on Lanzarote, and what makes it easy is exactly what other beaches lack: lifeguards in season, showers, toilets, walkways down to the water, bars a few steps away. Anyone with small children, or without the appetite to drive, finds here what Papagayo does not offer.
It faces south, so it is sheltered from the trade wind. On days when the north wind is hard, this is comfortable while Famara is unusable.
Getting there
It is in central Arrecife, at the western end of the Avenida. Fifteen minutes on foot from the Charco de San Ginés, or by city bus. Street parking in the roads behind the promenade; Sundays are difficult.
Worth knowing
A gently shelving bottom and no waves: the best beach on the island for children and weak swimmers. Do not expect the wild scenery of the south — you are in town here, with buildings behind you. That is the point of it, not a flaw.