Best beaches in Tenerife

Less crowded and secluded beaches

The Playa Benijo is in the North of Tenerife near the Anaga nature reserve.  This beach is quite a far drive from anywhere on the island, so I would advise you to take some stops in the Anaga nature reserve on the way there or on the way back.  

This is a beautiful beach, but since there is no lifeguard or services, I would not advise this with small children and definitely bring food and drinks. If it’s very windy or on high tide, know that the entire beach can pretty much disappear with the waves.  Also, know that most people see a beach after a long drive and want to go on it. But the first beach you will see is NOT the Benijo beach; the Benijo beach is a bit further and hidden. You need to take the stairs down to get there. This is a lovely secluded beach, but because of the long drive.

The Playa del Callao, is next to the main beach of Los Cristianos.  It’s an excellent place to get away from the sometimes busy Los Cristianos beach since it is hidden out of sight, and very few people know that it is there.

The next beach is the Playa de las Teresitas in Tenerife.  I like this beach because it is very authentically Spanish and for its unique setting in the North of Tenerife.  On the weekends and especially on Sunday, they have loads of drinks and food trucks at very friendly prices compared to other more touristy places on the island. A mojito in the touristy resorts 7-8 euro… here… 3-4 euro.  You can also combine this beach with visiting the Anaga nature reserve or many of the cultural things in Santa Cruz if you would want to do so.

Playa de Montana Roja is another excellent beach on the island near El Medano to get away from all the mass tourism in some places.  This is next to the Montana Roja and offers a unique setting with stunning surroundings.

Playa El Bollullo is a lovely beach with black sand in a unique and secluded setting.  This beach is not easy to get to, and you will need a car to do so.  However, the drive to the beach gives you some beautiful views over the Tenerife countryside and ocean.  There is parking upstairs from where you can take a short walk down the cliffside staircase to get to the beach.  I advise you to bring some drinks and food as there is only one little cliffside beach bar here.

Playa de las Galletas might also be a great option for anyone staying in the South.  This beach is visited mainly by the local population. It has many very nice restaurants nearby at, for the South, very affordable prices compared to the main tourist resorts in the South.  Many of the restaurants here focus on fish dishes, but they serve pretty much everything.  Especially in the evening, the area takes on a very authentic and relaxed local Spanish vibe. 

The Playa San Juan has not much tourism in this area, and prices are pretty low. So it feels pretty authentically Spanish here, but the beach has been very much improved in last year to attract tourists to this area.  So you get a lovely beach with everything you can expect, but not overrun with tourists.

Party crowd beaches

If you are looking for a more young people party crowd beach, you will find this mostly on the Playa de Troya in Playa de las Americas.  This also very much depends on the time of the season.  This beach gets pretty loud and active if you are travelling during the holiday months for schools and universities.  If you are travelling in any other months or winter, this beach is more like an average family holiday beach. 

Surfing beaches

El Medano resort and beach is a windsurfers paradise.  There are few hotels here, and the whole area feels like a real relaxed Spanish town visited by loads of surfers with some authentic places to eat. The beach is nice; just go to the correct part. When driving into town, the best beaches are on the right, not the left.

Also, in Puerto de la Cruz, you will find the Playa Martianez beach, another great beach popular with surfers because of the high waves while at the same time also being a tourist beach for all the hotels nearby.

Playa de la Tejita is one of the more popular kite surfing beaches on the island because of the often windy conditions.  It is located almost right next to the airport of Tenerife.

Black sand beaches

The Playa Los Gigantes beach is often mentioned as one of the most beautiful beaches in Tenerife, and I don’t understand this.  Yes, I can see it is next to the Los Gigantes mountains, which are 800 meters high and yes, that is a bit impressive.  But the beach here is right next to the harbour, quite often overcrowded and I don’t think it is very nice in general compared to some of the other beautiful beaches in this area.

The Playa la Arena in the Puerto Santiago area next to Los Gigantes I consider a much better beach then the Playa los Gigantes.  This beach is just a few km away and within walking distance from Playa Los Gigantes, so if you are going to look at the Los Gigantes beach and don’t like it, you can always choose to come here instead.

Most family friendly beaches

If you want to go on a family day out, you might want to consider the Playa Jardin in Puerto de la Cruz.  This is not only a magnificent beach, but it’s also less than 2 km from Loro Parque, a great zoo on Tenerife with live shows and loads of things to see and do.  In combination with the Loro Parque, the beach of Playa Jardin is a great day out for the family.

In the South, you will find the Playa Fanabe.  This is a lovely beach but much more crowded and more touristy than the Playa del Duque.  The Toriviscas beach in this area and Playa la Pinta are also very family-friendly beaches.

The Playa de Los Cristianos in Tenerife is also a great family-friendly beach with all facilities you would need and lovely white sand.

Prettiest beaches

In the Costa Adeje, you will find the Playa del Duque.  This is one of the most beautiful beaches in Tenerife, and I did not expect this in the main tourist destination. Admittedly, it’s a little pricey eating or drinking in this area, but that’s just the way these things go.

The Playa Amarilla, or translated, the Yellow beach, is a very unknown and unique place to swim in the Costa del Silencio area.   Because of this, you will rarely find many people here, and it’s a great place to snorkel.  This is also next to the Montana Amarilla or Yellow Mountain that has different routes to explore it. Therefore, it’s a fun side activity when visiting this great place to swim and snorkel.

When to go to the beach in Tenerife

Tenerife can be a tricky place when it comes to weather. For example, it can be raining in the North while still sunny in the South.  So my biggest tip for visiting any of these beaches is to check the weather report before going.  Also, many of the beaches in Tenerife have webcams on them so that you can check out most beaches online. Like this, you can see if there are not too many people on the beach and how the weather is.