Hotel Riu Palace Jandia

If your ideal dive holiday includes a proper room, a choice of dinner and somewhere to sit with a drink without having to organise the evening yourself, this resort makes a clear case. Hotel Riu Palace Jandia is a large seafront property with 388 rooms, refreshed in 2023, and the feel is polished rather than improvised. You have air conditioning, free WiFi throughout the hotel, a choice of restaurants and two bars built into the stay.

English is spoken by the hotel team, alongside French, German and Spanish. That matters when you are arranging dinner, asking about a service or sorting out the practical bits of a diving day. The atmosphere is resort-style and sociable, with live music, evening entertainment and themed dinner nights on the programme. You can keep things as quiet or as organised as you like, then retreat to your balcony when the day has had enough of you.

The address is in Playa Jandia, Spain, on the seafront at Morro Jable rather than inland in Fuerteventura. Direct access takes you to a golden-sand beach with sun loungers and parasols, so the sea is part of the daily geography, not a promised excursion. Morro Jable is about 0.1 miles away, close enough for an evening wander when you fancy seeing something beyond the resort.

You also have Playa del Matorral around 0.7 miles away and Playa Las Coloradas about 1.2 miles away. Gastrobar Destino is roughly 0.3 miles away, while Bar Oasis is about 0.4 miles away; Waikiki and Leos are each around 0.4 miles away for a change of scene. Fuerteventura Airport is about 48 miles from the hotel by road. This is a beach-and-town location, with Jandia itself close at hand and the Jandia natural park around 9 miles away by road.

The room choice is mainly about how you want the evening to look. A Double Room with Sea View suits a couple who would rather open the balcony door onto the Atlantic than negotiate a view through the side of the building. The partial sea-view option gives you the same broad room format with twin beds, which may suit friends travelling together or anyone who prefers separate sleeping arrangements. For a family group, the Senior Suite gives you the extra living space to spread out properly instead of stacking bags in the wardrobe and pretending that counts as organisation.

Inside, the practical comforts are in place for a warm island stay: air conditioning, a ceiling fan, a seating area, a sofa in the larger accommodation, and a balcony or terrace. You also have a private bathroom with a shower, towels, toiletries, a hairdryer and a bathrobe. The electric kettle is useful when you want something hot without leaving the room, while the flat-screen television and free WiFi cover the low-effort part of the evening.

Daily housekeeping keeps the room from becoming a drying-room-themed crime scene after several days of beach clothes and towels. Non-smoking rooms are available. The combination of outdoor space, cooling and proper seating means you can come back, shower, sit down and let the Atlantic do the entertaining for a while.

The stay runs on an all-inclusive basis, with breakfast, lunch and dinner covered at the main restaurant. Breakfast is a buffet, and the main restaurant uses show cooking, which gives you something more substantial than a plate assembled on autopilot. It is indoors and air-conditioned, a useful detail when the afternoon has been spent in heat and salt.

Dinner gives you three different directions. The main restaurant serves international food, while the Italian restaurant focuses on Italian specialities and the Asian restaurant offers a varied Asian menu. Dinner calls for smart-casual dress, so you can leave the dive gear behind and put on something that has not spent the afternoon in a kit bag. The Italian and Asian restaurants serve dinner; the main restaurant also handles breakfast and lunch.

There are two bars. The Main Bar is a lobby bar with cocktails and a sociable setting, while the Pool Bar keeps drinks close to the water, with cocktails and refreshments beside the heated outdoor pool. A snack bar is also available, and 24-hour room service gives you another route when the sensible plan is food in the room, feet up and no conversation required.

The heated outdoor pool is the main place for a non-diving day, with a built-in bar, sun loungers and parasols. You can move between the pool and the direct-access beach without turning the day into a military exercise. The beach itself has golden sand, loungers and shade, which is enough for a book, a nap or a carefully judged period of doing absolutely nothing.

Renova Spa offers massages and facial treatments when your shoulders need more attention than another swim. The equipped fitness centre gives you somewhere to stretch the legs or put in a proper session, although the Atlantic-facing option remains considerably less predictable and generally more interesting. The hotel also has live music, evening entertainment and themed dinner nights for the hours when you want the day to continue without planning it yourself.

If you are travelling with children, the kids' club adds a separate activity option, and the hotel welcomes children of any age. Cycling, horse riding, windsurfing and tennis are available away from the property, with the latter three carrying an additional charge. You can also hire a car, which opens up more of Fuerteventura when the beach has had its turn.

Fuerteventura Airport is about 48 miles away by road, with a journey of roughly one hour and four minutes by car. An airport shuttle is available for a charge and can be arranged through the hotel. Car hire is also available if you want to explore independently. Parking is available for a charge, so it is worth settling that practical point before arriving with a hire car.

Check-in runs from 15:00 to midnight, and check-out is by 12:00. You need photo identification and a credit card at check-in, and the minimum check-in age is 18. The front desk operates around the clock, with concierge assistance, luggage storage, currency exchange and daily housekeeping available. Laundry and pressing services are also available for a charge.

Free WiFi covers the whole hotel. Cash, Visa and Mastercard are accepted. Cots can be requested for babies aged from birth to one year, subject to the accommodation option, while extra beds are not available. Pets are not allowed. For dinner, smart-casual clothing is required; in other words, the flip-flops can have the evening off.