Hidden Gems of Tenerife: A Local Guide Beyond the Resorts

The south coast you drive past

Most visitors experience the south of Tenerife as three resort towns and a motorway. Our office is in Palm-Mar, a village at the end of a road that goes nowhere else, which is exactly why it stayed itself. This guide is the short list of places we send friends who visit us.

Palm-Mar: a flat, quiet village between a nature reserve and the sea. Walk the coastal path toward the Malpaís de Rasca reserve at sunset, when the light comes sideways through the cardón cactus fields, and you will not believe Los Cristianos is ten minutes away.

Las Galletas: a working harbour where the boats land fish, not tourists. Coffee at the port, a swim off the black-sand beach. And if you want speed, this is also where our south coast jet ski route starts, past Montaña Amarilla’s yellow tuff cliffs.

Montaña Amarilla: the “yellow mountain” itself, a small volcanic cone with a shoreline of sculpted ochre rock. Snorkelling here on a calm morning is the south coast’s quietest great experience.

The gems you need a boat for

Armeñime bay: a swimming stop framed by cliffs, too small for the big party boats. Our premium whale cruise anchors here for its swim; most guests say the bay, not the boat, was the highlight.

The bay of Masca: everyone photographs Masca village from above; almost nobody sees the gorge open onto the ocean from below. The five-hour sailing trip anchors exactly there, under cliffs six hundred metres tall, for lunch and a swim.

Two inland detours worth the fuel

Garachico: the north coast town rebuilt inside a lava flow, with natural pools where the eruption met the sea. Combine it with the cliffside road through El Tanque for one of the island’s great drives.

The Teide road at dusk: not a secret place, but a secret hour. When the day tours descend, the light climbs. Our sunset quad and stargazing evenings exist because the park after five o’clock is a different island.