In short
Fuerteventura has the longest beaches in the Canaries: the Corralejo dunes in the north, the Jandía peninsula in the south, with kilometres of sand nearly empty out of season.
It is the oldest island in the archipelago and the most eroded: a desert landscape, flat and treeless, which disconcerts anyone expecting the vegetation of La Palma or La Gomera.
What it really costs
The island is cheaper than Tenerife and Lanzarote for housing, outside the two resorts in the north and south.
Distances are long and buses infrequent: without a car you stay in your resort. Hire is the second budget item after accommodation.
What nobody tells you
The wind is constant and strong. It is what made the island a world capital of windsurfing and kitesurfing, and what makes an ordinary beach day less pleasant than elsewhere.
Currents on the west coast are dangerous and several beaches are unpatrolled. Swim where people swim, not where the beach is empty.
The Corralejo dunes nature park bans construction, which explains the two isolated hotels standing in the middle of it: they predate the designation.