Tenerife: Spain's Island of Contrast

Off the western African coast, though owned by Spain, is a group of islands: the Canary Islands. Although there are seven main islands, the largest and most popular one is Tenerife. In October 2021, we stayed three weeks in Tenerife, and loved it!! We spent a week in Garachico, on the north side of the island followed by a 13 day stay in El Medano, located on the southern side of Tenerife.

Tenerife is such a contrasting island! From the soaring peak of Teide (the dormant volcano on Tenerife), to the sparkling, black, sandy beaches, and the winding valley roads to the very narrow trails on the cliffs, Tenerife is a diverse and fun island fo explore.

The beautiful Mt. Teide., rising up above all other rocks and mountains.

Garachico is a wonderful little town on the northern side of the island. It’s right on the coast but does not offer the typical, white sandy beach spots! The coast here is formed by impressive black volcanic rocks. This is due to a volcanic eruption, in 1706, burying and destroying the town. (This was the second time)

Garachico

The beautiful little coastal town, nestled between towering peaks of volcano rock..

From Garachico we took several day trips. One day we went to explore Mount Teide National Park. You can start at the El Portillo Visitor center. It has extensive information on the region and volcanos in general. The ranger can offer you great tips on hikes or how to explore the national park. We decided to hike the Montana blanca, as it was near the Teide and offered amazing views! This hike gets you only 2 miles away from the summit!! (Although this is VERY steep and a permit is needed, see below) It was pretty incredible, as we were so high up (along with it being hazy) that it looked as if the island was floating in the sky. We did not go to the summit as you need a special permit and they were sold out for the next month. TIP: if you do want to get to the top, plan in advance!

Mount Teide

Us five miles from the summit of Mount Teide, the impressively large volcano of Tenerife.

We also did a few other day-trips going to nearby towns, some being Icod de los Vinos, Buenavista del Norte, Bajamar, and Punta del Hidalgo. These are all very cute little towns. There are many hiking opportunities around the island. One hike we really enjoyed started at Playa de las Arenas and hugs the coast towards Buenavista del Norte. You can finish the hike with a stop for drinks and snacks and the plaza in Buenavista. Another hike we did was near Masca. The popular, guided hike to Playa de Masca needs a permit. It was sold out for weeks…. Hence we decided to drive a bit further and found a great hike just west of Mirador de la Crux de Hilda. There was nobody on this hike and the views and scenery were amazing! When you get a little farther along the hike, you’re on a narrow ledge with a steep drop on either side! I thought it was a wonderful hike. We would’ve gone farther, but the rain cloud came in and when you’re on rocks, that can be kind of dangerous!

The dozens of banana plantations dotting the coast of Tenerife, making a beautiful ‘sea’ of green.

One thing to note about Tenerife is that there are banana plantations everywhere. You can get some incredible photos with vast ‘waves’ of green banana plants and with the sparkling water of the ocean in the back. We were pondering why there are so many banana plantations, and we stumbled upon the Banana House! We went on a short drive to a nearby village, Icod de los Vinos, known for its massive solitary dracaena treedt, estimated to be 1000 years old! In this cute town we stumbled upon the Banana museum. It was really educational, informative and well done. It has a great exhibition and a small plantations. We learned the history of the banana industry on the island, how bananas grow, the different types, how they produce offspring, etc.

After that, we drove the windy roads to El Medano. This is a little coastal city next to a bay with a mountain, Montana Roja (Red Mountain in Spanish), nearby. We stayed at a nice Airbnb 5 minutes from the beach! Nearly every day we went to the beach to refresh and buggy board. El Medano is a medium sized town with great infrastructure and known for windsurfing, kitesurfing and foilsurfing. We decided we had to try windsurfing. We booked a windsurfer beginners course using Godzilla Surf School for the family. It had three lessons in the week, and we learned a lot about how to windsurf! I recommend Godzilla Surf Shop to anyone interested in water sports in El Medano. There are multiple hikes around El Medano. A ‘must’ is to climb Montana Roja. This is a fairly intermediate hike, a bit steep on the way. We climbed it for sunset, which was beautiful! Another good hike is up Montana Pelada (naked mountain in spanish). This is a large crater (created by a volcano) and was also fun. It offered wonderful views of the ocean of Mount Teide.

Windsurfing in the bay of Montana Roja, with the everlasting wind.

Tenerife was a wonderful island! It offers many activities and fun places to explore and enjoy. The sandy beaches were wonderful, as was the Teide volcano, the hikes, the coastal towns and water sports!