Lanzarote with kids: which resort, calm beaches and days out by age

Lanzarote has 41 hotels that take all ages and run a kids' club, and three resorts hold 39 of them: Playa Blanca 18, Puerto del Carmen 11 and Costa Teguise 10. All three sit on calm, sandy beaches on the sheltered south and east coasts, so the choice comes down to your children’s ages and how long a transfer they will sit through.

For babies and children up to about 12, Playa Blanca is the strongest base. It has the island’s big family resorts, many with slide pools, baby clubs and two-bedroom suites, and its town beaches face south towards Fuerteventura in calm water. Aqualava, the island’s stand-alone water park, is five minutes' drive from the town beach, and the mini cruise and kayak trips to the Papagayo coves leave from the harbour. Its family hotels are 34 to 43 minutes from the airport.

Puerto del Carmen suits families who want the shortest transfer and a town to walk around. Its 11 family hotels are 11 to 15 minutes from the airport, a promenade links four golden beaches, and Rancho Texas Park is six minutes away by car, or free on the park’s own bus. Teenagers do well here: evenings are livelier, the jet ski and try-dive operators work from the harbour and the beach, and the submarine at Puerto Calero is eight minutes along the coast.

Costa Teguise, 17 to 23 minutes from the airport, is the base for the north. The aquarium is in the resort, the Cueva de los Verdes and Jameos del Agua are about 25 minutes' drive, and Sands Beach Resort and Barceló Lanzarote Active Resort run sport programmes that suit active older children. Our guide to where to stay in Lanzarote compares the three resorts for every kind of trip.

Most of the island’s family days out take very young children, and the age rules are worth knowing before you book. The submarine from Puerto Calero takes children from 2, because under-2s cannot dive with the safety equipment on board. Rancho Texas Park and the aquarium let under-3s in free, and the Cabildo’s sites, Timanfaya, the Cueva de los Verdes and Jameos del Agua, are free up to 6, with a half-price child ticket from 7 to 12.

Height, not age, decides the water parks. At Aqualava the five Timan Fire slides need children to be at least 120 cm, while Corsario Bay, the children’s area, is for 60 to 150 cm. The Papagayo kayak trip starts at age 5 and the beginners' try dive at 8. For teenagers, the volcano buggy tour from Costa Teguise needs a front passenger of at least 1.35 m, and the driver must be 20 or over.

The prices below are the operators' own, read on 15 November 2026, or the GetYourGuide from price where we sell the product; GetYourGuide shows the child price for your date once you enter ages. Drive times are routed from the main beach of each resort.

The calmest water is on the south coast. In Playa Blanca, Playa Flamingo at the western end has white sand, calm water, showers and restaurants behind it; Playa Dorada at the eastern end runs towards Marina Rubicón; and the town beach in the centre holds a Blue Flag for 2026. A seafront promenade links all three, which makes it flat going with a pushchair.

Puerto del Carmen’s beaches face south-east along the Avenida de las Playas. Playa Grande, the main one, has lifeguards, sunbeds, showers and restaurants, and with Los Pocillos and Matagorda it is on the 2026 Blue Flag list. These are long golden beaches, so there is room to spread out in August.

In Costa Teguise, El Jablillo is the calm family beach, and Las Cucharas, the main one, has lifeguards, showers and toilets. Further north, the Cabildo’s tourism board picks out Caletón Blanco, on the Arrieta to Órzola road, as a beach for small children: lava flows shelter its white sand into pools that are almost a natural lido at low tide. La Garita at Arrieta is a half-kilometre family beach with restaurants.

The Papagayo coves, south-east of Playa Blanca, are the other calm-water favourite, reached by a dirt road with a car fee or by boat; our Papagayo beaches guide covers access, parking and which cove to choose with children.

Rancho Texas Park, on the edge of Puerto del Carmen, is the island’s family theme park and the best full day for mixed ages. One ticket covers the Wild West park, its animal presentations and Aqua Rancho, its water park, whose pools are heated with geothermal and solar energy. The park opens every day from 9:30am to 5:30pm, the pools from opening to 5pm and the slides from 12:30pm to 5pm, so spend the morning with the animals: outside July and August the dolphin presentations are at 11:30am and 1:45pm and the sea lions at 12:30pm and 2:30pm. Tickets are €45 for adults, €30 for children aged 3 to 12 and free under 3. The park’s bus is free from Puerto del Carmen, €6 a person from Costa Teguise and €7 from Playa Blanca. Outside food is not allowed, and the park’s restaurants serve until about 4:30pm.

Aqualava, in the Montaña Roja area of Playa Blanca, is a water park on its own: a saltwater wave pool, the Magma River, the Corsario Bay children’s area and the Timan Fire slides for anyone over 120 cm, with heated pools all year. Entry is €30 for adults and €20 for children, and the park opens daily from 10am, closing at 6pm in summer and 5pm in winter. Tickets bought on its own site include a free bus from Costa Teguise, Puerto del Carmen and Playa Blanca on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and every weekday in July and August.

Many families never leave the hotel. Iberostar Selection Lanzarote Park has eight waterslides in its Aquafun area; HL Paradise Island gives guests free all-day entry to its Dino Park water park; Bakour Lanzarote Splash in Puerto del Carmen is built around a splash park with slides; and H10 Suites Lanzarote Gardens in Costa Teguise has a pirate ship with slides and a waterfall.

The submarine is the one sea trip that works for every age from 2. Submarine Safaris dives to 30 metres off Puerto Calero, past shipwrecks and shoals of fish, in a 44-seat cabin with 22 large windows, kept at normal air pressure so ears are not affected. The dive takes about an hour, and children get a dive certificate afterwards. The operator sells adult places at €65 and children’s at €42, for ages 2 to 14, with its own daily bus from Costa Teguise, Puerto del Carmen and Playa Blanca; on GetYourGuide it is rated 4.6 from 1,604 reviews, from €65.

With younger children, the Papagayo mini cruise from Playa Blanca is the gentle boat day: legs of 20 to 25 minutes each way, about an hour at anchor in the bay to swim and snorkel, and back within 1.5 to 3 hours. It is rated 4.7 from 459 reviews, from €35. For older children who swim well, the four-hour catamaran from Puerto Calero adds lunch, kayaks, paddleboards and a sea slide, rated 4.8 from 440 reviews, from €85.

A day to La Graciosa is the big boat outing, and its catamaran cruise suits families with confident swimmers; our La Graciosa day-trip guide covers ferries and timings.

Timanfaya is the day children remember: the geothermal demonstrations at Islote de Hilario show how hot the ground still is just below the surface, and the coach route runs about 35 minutes through the craters. Montañas del Fuego costs €30 for adults and €15 for children aged 7 to 12, and is free under 7, with tickets sold online for a time slot. The CACT, which runs the site, says pushchairs are hard going and suggests a baby carrier, and its El Diablo restaurant has high chairs. Our Timanfaya visit guide covers time slots, lunch and the walks in detail.

The camel rides start at the Echadero de los Camellos, on the road through the park, and need no Timanfaya ticket. The national park describes a 250-metre circuit of about 20 minutes up the side of Montaña de Timanfaya, from 9:30am to 3:30pm, with no booking. The rides are run by Yaiza town council and paid on the spot; the latest published fare is €11 a person, from 2022.

In the north, the Cueva de los Verdes is about a kilometre of lava tube on foot, 50 minutes with a guide, and Jameos del Agua, in the same tube, has a lake of tiny blind white crabs. Both cost €17 for adults and €8.50 for children aged 7 to 12, free under 7. Pushchairs are not allowed in either, so bring a carrier. Without a car, the half-day Timanfaya and La Geria tour, rated 4.5 from 801 reviews, includes park entry; the full-day island highlights tour covers the caves as well.

On a cloudy or windy day, the island has a good set of indoor and sheltered days out. The best is underground: the Cueva de los Verdes keeps a stable temperature all year, and pairs with Jameos del Agua, a few minutes' drive along the same coast road, for a morning. Book the Cueva online for a time slot; Jameos has a ticket office but the CACT advises buying ahead.

The Aquarium Lanzarote in Costa Teguise is fully indoors, with an underwater tunnel, a central tank with sharks, and local and tropical species. It opens every day from 10am to 6pm, last entry 5:15pm, and costs €16 for adults, €11 for children aged 4 to 12 and nothing under 4.

The submarine dives whatever the clouds, since the view is 30 metres down, and Rancho Texas heats its pools all year, as does Aqualava. LagOmar in Nazaret, a house of caves and tunnels cut into a volcanic quarry, is entry from €10 and makes a short afternoon from Costa Teguise.

For two adults and two children aged 7 to 12, a week with three big days out costs €454 in tickets at the operators' own prices, read on 15 November 2026: Rancho Texas €150, the submarine €214 and Timanfaya €90. Swap Rancho Texas for Aqualava and the water park day falls to €100; add the Cueva de los Verdes and Jameos del Agua for €102 together.

Children under 7 change the sums a lot. They go free at Timanfaya and the CACT caves, under-3s go free at Rancho Texas, and under-4s at the aquarium. A family with a 5-year-old and a 9-year-old pays €75 for Timanfaya rather than €90.

Ages count at the gate, and the age bands differ by operator: child prices run from 3 to 12 at Rancho Texas, 2 to 14 for the submarine, 7 to 12 at the CACT sites and 4 to 12 at the aquarium.

These are hotels from our list of 41 family hotels with kids' clubs, chosen for what they do for children and where they sit. Prices are Expedia’s lowest nightly rate for a May 2027 week, read on 15 November 2026; the card shows today’s price for your dates. With babies, choose Princesa Yaiza or Gran Tagoro; for children of 4 to 12, Seaside Los Jameos, THB Tropical Island or Caybeach Sun; with sporty teenagers, Sands Beach Resort.