I have down Lanza 7 times - first time in 2009 when I stayed at Club La Santa. Everyone since I have stayed in Puerto Del Carmen. Better atmosphere, easier logistics and the after party on Sunday is awesome. If you want to claim your Kona slot you will have to go to CLS and registration is there. There is a free bus from PDC for registration though and it’s only about €30 to hire a car for the day if you want to go on your own schedule.

It’s an amazing race and atmosphere - or at least it has been while Kenneth was in command - hope it remains as good now CLS are running the show.

Enjoy.

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He who understands the WHY, will understand the HOW.

Earthings post is spot on .

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Deceptively slow.

For reference, I did IM Lanza this year.

I went to La Santa club twice: to pick up check-in gear and for the awards ceremony. I didn’t stay in Puerto del Carmen either.

La Santa club offers shuttles between the two locations, although there was some major fu**up with the eventual pro winner - Artur Horseau picked a too-late shuttle and the shuttle was then late itself as well, which (allegedly) resulted in him missing the slot allocation ceremony.

Thanks for the info!!

The race is in Puerto del Carmen, which is very close to the Airport.

I have raced there twice, and I stayed in Puerto del Carmen both. Big offer of both accomodation and restaurant. And you can easily walk to start/transition area/finish line. That makes easy the bike and run checkin, and the logistic for the race day.

Cons: you shall drive 30min from Puerto del Carmen to La Santa for registration. But you can take the opportunity to drive part of the bike course, and enjoy the Lanzarote Landscape which is incredible

Cons x2: if you want to participate in the parade, welcome banquet and banquet of champions... but it is not so bad... no so much traffic in the island.

The only reasons to stay in La Santa are:

Your family would enjoy the Huge offer of one of the biggest sport resorts in Europa... you can surf, sailing, track racing, football, Group activities... also for children...
You want to participate in the banquets
You want to take it easy, take the organkzation shuttles, and relax, no turismous, etc...

Lanzarote is not big, and it is cheap... if i would come back (I want) I would stay always in Puerto del Carmen.

One appartament close to the finish líne and take a car.

The Best option: Hotel Fariones, then Apartamentos Rocas Blancas.

I think it’s better to stay in Puerto del Carmen because at Club La Santa you go only to register and at banquet (very very good)

Puerto del Carmen to Club La Santa is only a 30 minute drive so you can really do either way. It depends a lot on whether you'd prefer being closer to the main event area and transition in PdC or the registration/banquet at CLS.

As others have said, staying at CLS is only worth it if your family/group wants to take advantage of their facilities/activities or is interested in surfing (the main spots are near La Santa).

Any accomodation in Puerto del Carmen would be much cheaper than CLS. It's not worth paying the CLS prices if you aren't going to be using their facilities.

Also, as much as I love CLS, La Santa is on the windy side of the island, PdC is the sunny side.

For the race IMO the best option is to stay at or near Puerto del Carmen and getting a car rental so you can easily move between PdC and CLS.

Taxi and/or Ironman shuttle buses are good options. Keep in mind taxi don't usually stay in CLS so getting them from CLS can require a bit of waiting time if they aren't booked in advance. This is not as much of an issue at PdC.

You can also consider any other town on the island, its not a big island and Puerto del Carmen is quite central.

Look like PdC is the better option!

How friendly is it to OWS in the days prior to the race?

you can swim there without anyproblem, they are not rough water, and some buoys are located some days before the race day

CLS has a lagoon (it's L shaped and approx 1km long) which would be the only place to open water swim at La Santa because the sea around La Santa is often very rough (it's a surfing area) and the beaches with big rocks. CLS also has three 50m pools. If you're not staying there I don't think you're allowed to use their facilities but they can't prevent you from using the lagoon.

Puerto del Carmen has a few sandy beaches which are perfect for swimming anytime. The sea is very accessible and the conditions of the sea are usually very good, usually fairly flat. Open water swimming in PdC is really great.

If you wanted a hotel with a lap swimming pool that would greatly reduce your options on the island but there are a few, including in PdC.

I'd choose accomodation without a pool and do all my swimming in the sea in PdC.

Puerto del Carmen is the place to be for the race as you roll out of bed, walk a few hundred metres and then start the race...No stress of travelling to the start line or logistics for yourself or family.
If any family going they can come down and watch the swim and then go back to the apartment/hotel for the hours you're out on the bike.
If there a few days before you can roll out of bed, walk a few hundred metres and go swim the course. It's very handy.

For picking up the race pack we found it good to cycle over from Puerto del Carmen to LaSanta and back (50k round trip) as it a) meant we didn't have to wait for buses or taxis or rent a car, b) got to make sure the bike was in good working order c) got to see some of the island at a more relaxed pace d) got some acclimatisation to the heat/wind.

We'll be cycling over on the Thursday morning again next year so welcome to join.