Lanzarote with teenagers: what they're allowed to drive, dive and surf themselves
Updated October 1, 2026 · 7 min read
With a primary-school child, the question on Lanzarote is: can they cope with it? With a 14-year-old, it’s different: can I drive myself? The answer fits in one sentence: on land, teenagers sit alongside – buggy drivers from 20, quad drivers from 18 – in the water, from age 8 they’re allowed to do almost everything. For most families, that makes the scuba diving for beginners the point where the teenager really does something themselves: €75 per person, two hours, no previous experience needed, 5.0 out of 5 from 382 reviews. Anyone who wants to steer a vehicle themselves finds the only explicit yes at the jet ski hire in Puerto del Carmen – from 16 with parental permission.
See availability and prices for the scuba diving for beginners
That’s not decided by the family, but by the operator. And the answer isn’t in the short description, but further down the booking page, under the participation conditions. For younger children there’s the overview Lanzarote with kids – this text starts where the children want a say.
The limits at a glance
All age limits are as stated on the booking page. They apply to exactly this activity, not to the whole category, and they can change – have them confirmed before booking. The five activities where a teenager does the most themselves:
| Activity | Duration | from | Rating | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jet ski hire in Puerto del Carmen | 20 - 40 minutes | €70 per jet ski (up to 2 people) | 4.6 (474) | Teenagers from 16 with parental permission; children from 8 and 130 cm only with an adult |
| Guided jet ski tour along the coast | 20 minutes - 3 hours | €70 per jet ski (up to 2 people) | 4.7 (1,032) | Parents with a teenager on the same jet ski; children under 8 are excluded |
| Scuba diving for beginners, up to two per instructor | 2 - 2.5 hours | €75 per person | 5.0 (382) | Teenagers from 8 with no previous experience who’d rather not be in a big group |
| Surf lessons in Famara for all levels | 2 hours | €50 per person | 4.8 (220) | Teenagers from 8 who can last two hours in cool water |
| Hike across Timanfaya’s volcanic landscapes | 3 hours | €44 per person | 4.8 (1,503) | Families who want to do something together instead of sitting nine hours on a bus |
The two jet ski prices are per jet ski for up to two people, the other three per person. The limits for the remaining activities – quad, parasailing, Sea Trek, kayak, submarine – are in the sections below.
On land, they sit alongside
No activity on Lanzarote has more reviews than the off-road buggy tour from Costa Teguise: 5,361 at 4.7 stars, €150 per buggy. For teenagers, though, it’s a passenger-seat tour. According to the booking page, only someone who is at least 20 and has held a licence for two years may take the wheel – the original document, the operator doesn’t accept copies. The front seat goes to anyone at least 1.35 m tall. For the back seat the page names no age limit, yet it also calls the tour unsuitable for anyone under 1.35 m. Whether a younger sibling may ride in the back is something to check with the operator beforehand. How the route up to Peñas del Chache runs is in Buggy tour from Costa Teguise.
For the four- and six-seater from the same operator at €200 (4.5 stars, 684 reviews), the exclusions state, blanket: people under 20. Elsewhere it says only that drivers must be 20. Whether a 15-year-old may ride along is stated inconsistently on the booking page – clarify with the operator beforehand. A buggy adventure from Puerto del Carmen for €250 takes children from age 8 accompanied by an adult, according to the short description.
For the quad from Playa Blanca (€55 per quad for up to two people, one hour, 4.5 stars from 190 reviews), the limit for drivers is 18; it’s not suitable under 5 according to the page. Even a 17-year-old is a passenger here. All the vehicles are under Buggy and quad.
On the water: the jet ski as the exception
Only one activity addresses teenagers explicitly: the jet ski hire in Puerto del Carmen, €70 per jet ski at 4.6 stars from 474 reviews. You ride a course around four buoys, 20 or 40 minutes, on a single or double jet ski. Children from 8 may join if they’re at least 130 cm tall, and only together with an adult. For teenagers from 16, the page mentions parental permission. Exactly what that permits – riding their own jet ski, for instance – get confirmed in writing before booking. One father writes in the reviews that the age rules were unclear when booking; his 15-year-old ended up riding with him on the double jet ski. Anyone over 100 kg is excluded, according to the page.
See availability and prices for the jet ski hire in Puerto del Carmen
The guided jet ski tour for €70 per jet ski (4.7 stars from 1,032 reviews) runs along the coast from Puerto del Carmen, depending on the route as far as Playa Quemada or Papagayo. It excludes children under 8. Who’s allowed to steer, the page doesn’t say – that’s exactly what you ask beforehand. Pick-up costs €5 per person extra.
With parasailing in Puerto del Carmen (€55, 4.8 stars from 218 reviews), you hang from the chute behind a boat for ten minutes, alone or with one or two others. It’s not suitable under 5 according to the page, and the operator doesn’t take unaccompanied minors, so you can’t send a 15-year-old off alone here. In bad weather the flight is cancelled. More under Jet ski and water sports.
Underwater: almost everything open from 8
Here the picture flips. Both major trial-dive offers cost €75 per person and stand at 5.0 stars – there’s no winner between them, 382 reviews for one, 377 for the other. Both exclude only children under 8; no previous experience is needed. The scuba diving for beginners goes into the water from the beach, without a boat, with a maximum of two participants per instructor; the trial dive with free photos and videos caps the group at four. Both pages list health exclusions – whether one applies is something to discuss with your doctor beforehand. And both require twelve hours between the dive and a flight.
The submarine from Puerto Calero costs €65 per person, €10 less (4.6 stars from 1,447 reviews), and takes children from age 2; it’s not possible under 2. For a 15-year-old who can swim, it’s the weaker choice: he looks through a window, when for €10 more he could be in the water himself. One diver writes in a review that the trial dive showed him more than the submarine trip he’d done before. The submarine is under Boat trips and submarine.
In between sits Sea Trek in Costa Teguise for €80 per person (4.8 stars from 193 reviews): 30 minutes walking across the seabed, wearing a helmet that gets its air from the surface through a hose; the minimum age is 8 according to the page. Anyone wanting more than a trial dive can find a three-day SSI Open Water course with pool sessions, four sea dives and an exam for €420 – with only 2 reviews so far. This page doesn’t state a minimum age; operators here set different limits, and what counts is whatever is stated on the relevant booking page or confirmed in writing. Everything under Snorkelling and diving.
Famara: surf lessons and the question of going alone
You learn to surf on Lanzarote at Famara, a surf beach, not a swimming beach. A two-hour lesson costs €50 per person (4.8 stars from 220 reviews). The school doesn’t take anyone under 8. The page says nothing about swimming ability or whether minors may take part without their parents.
That’s the real teenager question, and no website answers it. What the page does say: lessons mostly in the morning, moved around for tides and weather, be at the meeting point half an hour early, groups of up to eight. Pick-up is only on request from Costa Teguise, Arrecife and Puerto del Carmen, not at all from Playa Blanca; with transfer, the morning can take up to six hours. Whether you can drop your 15-year-old off and collect them later, whether a parent has to stay on the beach, and whether the school wants a signed consent form: ask in writing beforehand. Anyone travelling in July or August should also know that Famara is often flat then.
See availability and prices for the surf lessons in Famara
The schools compared: Surf lessons in Famara. What the parents can do in the north in the meantime is in The north of Lanzarote.
Timanfaya on foot instead of nine hours on a bus
The full-island tour for €51 and the tour to Timanfaya, Jameos and Cueva for €89 each last 9 hours. For adults who want to see a lot, that’s efficient. For a 15-year-old, it’s a day of getting on, viewpoint, getting on. What each one covers is in Full-day island tour and Timanfaya, Jameos and Cueva.
Often the better choice for teenagers is the hike across Timanfaya’s volcanic landscapes for €44 per person (4.8 stars from 1,503 reviews): three hours, groups of up to ten, 9 kilometres according to the booking page and no extra costs. It runs through the lava fields next to the national park, not inside it – not a substitute for the volcano route but its opposite: walking over lava yourself instead of sitting in the park bus. The page requires moderate fitness and closed shoes. Anyone wanting to see the park itself will find the difference explained in Timanfaya as a half-day tour.
See availability and prices for the hike across Timanfaya’s volcanic landscapes
For entry on your own, the child price of €15 applies only from 7 to 12; a 13-year-old falls outside it and pays the adult rate of €30. All the tours are under Timanfaya volcano tours.
What it costs when everyone wants something different
A family with two adults and two teenagers, 14 and 16. The older one wants to surf, the younger one wants to dive, the parents want the buggy, and all four together want jet skiing:
- Surf lesson Famara: €50
- Trial dive: €75
- two buggies from Costa Teguise, the parents driving: €300
- jet ski tour, two jet skis with two people each: €140
Together €565, without the rental car and without the €20 for jet ski pick-up. More exhausting than the total is the logistics: Famara lies on the north-west coast, and that morning one parent is just the driver.
By comparison, two activities where all four do something themselves together. The kayak and snorkelling tour from Playa Blanca to Papagayo lasts 3.5 hours, costs €50 per person (4.8 stars from 495 reviews), isn’t suitable under 5 according to the page, and is cancelled in poor weather – €200 for four, more under Kayak and SUP. The volcano hike for four: €176. Both together come to €376, around two-thirds of the wish list.
A day where teenagers set the pace themselves: the ferry to La Graciosa (€29 return, 4.7 stars from 1,106 reviews) and then onto bikes there. A rental place in Caleta de Sebo starts at €20, with helmet and route map, though with only 11 reviews so far; the condition is that you can ride a bike, and the bikes have to be back by 6 pm. For four people, that’s from €196. An e-bike rental on the island costs €35 at only 3.9 stars from 143 reviews. Its description calls Playa de las Conchas the island’s most beautiful beach and, at the same time, the most dangerous for swimming – that’s worth saying before setting off. The crossings are under La Graciosa.
For younger siblings on board, see Boat trips with kids – what’s the minimum age?; for the rest of the island, What to see in Lanzarote.
Our recommendation
For most families with teenagers, the scuba diving for beginners for €75 per person is the clearest answer to “can I do it myself?”: from age 8, no previous experience, a maximum of two participants per instructor, 5.0 out of 5 from 382 reviews. It is no good for teenagers who are nervous in the water, or for anyone with one of the health exclusions named above – that’s for the doctor to clear before booking.
Anyone who wants to steer a vehicle themselves has exactly one yes: the jet ski hire in Puerto del Carmen for €70 per jet ski, from 16 with parental permission. Get what the permission actually allows confirmed in writing beforehand. On land, there’s no such yes: buggy from 20, quad from 18, and a valid licence at 17 changes nothing about that.
On a small budget and for all four together, the hike across Timanfaya’s volcanic landscapes for €44 per person is the best value – three hours of walking yourselves instead of nine hours on a bus. It requires moderate fitness and closed shoes; for a teenager who cares nothing for landscape, it’s the wrong morning. Then the surf lessons in Famara for €50 are the better bet.
