The Beaches of Tenerife
Tenerife, the largest of the Canary Islands, is famous for its volcanic origin, which lends the landscape an eerie, lunar quality. Dominated by the 3718m dormant volcano Teide, the highest mountain in Spain, and indeed, the entire Atlantic Ocean, Tenerife’s terrain is a startling mixture of barren rock and verdant valleys of banana and tomato plantations.
Its rugged coastline is made up of 70km of fine, white sandy beaches. Let’s take a closer look at Tenerife’s wonderful and varied beaches:
Playa de las Americas is located at the island’s south-eastern extreme. The beaches are overlooked by pretty parades of tourist havens – craft shops, bars and restaurants which cater largely to families and holidaying couples.
Playa de los Cristianos, with its fine beaches of golden sand and crystalline water, makes for a stunning experience of old Spain. The picturesque fishing village will not be forgotten in a hurry once seen.
At the extreme southern edge of the island, Playa de las Galletas is home to some fantastic hotels and sports facilities. Punto de Rasca in particular offers an outstanding pamoramic vista.
Playa de El Puertito is a 1.6 kilometre beach of arresting black sand, located close to the village Güimar.
Close by, Playa del Roque is another stunning black sand beach.
Playa de las Caletillas is a real centre of tourism, popular with visitors from around the world. Its three small bays are close to Candelaria, and offer an array of nightlife for young and old alike.
Near Santa Cruz lie the beaches of Las Gaviotas, a small nudist beach (again with black sand!) and further on up the coast and you arrive at Las Teresitas, a hugely popular beach in the north of Tenerife. Golden sands and palm trees complete the tropical glamour that sums up Tenerife, and indeed the entire Canarias region.
Costa Martianez in Puerto de la Cruz is famous for it’s massive artificial pond, Lago Martianez surely one of the most outstanding examples of coastal landscape engineering, combining elements of raditional Canarian architecture with original sculptures and natural vegetation. It was created by the great architect Cesar Manrique, a native of nearby Lanzarote (which is worth a visit to find out more about the man himself, as it hosts a museum dedicated to his life and work).
Stop into the Monarch website to find more information on holidays to Tenerife.
The Canary islands are a great destination for trekking…Unreal photo. Volcano caving is also pretty high up on the list.