5 Amazing Things To See And Do Outdoors In Tenerife

Tenerife is infamous for its southern resort towns with all-day British breakfasts and cheap booze. If that are your expectations (as were mine, naively so), be ready to be positively surprised. The volcano El Teide splits the island in several microclimates with completely different landscapes. Lush rainforests high up in the mountains in the north, El Teide’s moonlike volcanic valleys, dry plains filled with cacti in the south, and loads of black sand beaches and tiny villages dotted around the island. Explore the underwater world while on a boat, snorkeling or diving to see loads of whales, dolphins, turtles, octopuses and sting rays. Tenerife is a gorgeous outdoor paradise with plenty of opportunities to avoid the crowds. 

Why Tenerife?

Me and my boyfriend were planning to do a big trip in 2019. He’s dreaming about going to Africa for the first time and I am drawn to the high mountains of Central Asia. We were making plans for Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, South Africa, Namibia or Botswana. Inspired by our Georgia adventure, we wanted to hire a 4WD car and enjoy the ultimate freedom of being on the road. But as we all know, life never goes as planned. 

After a difficult year I wasn’t sure if I could handle traveling to a faraway place involving lots of planning, arranging things and limited facilities. I needed an easy destination that wasn’t hard to get to, with loads of sunshine and relaxation. We decided to go to Tenerife. People in our environment were a tad surprised as normally we wouldn’t have gone here. But seriously, what an incredible place. It exceeded all of my expectations in every way possible and I urge you to go here if you have a week to spare. Get a beautiful villa on AirBnB (we stayed in this one), hire a car and make sure to get out and enjoy Tenerife’s stunning nature. Here’s my list of the top things to do outdoors in Tenerife.

El Teide National Park

The volcano El Teide is Spain’s highest mountain with a whopping 3718 meters in height. Take the cable car to the peak for a spectacular 360 degree view of Tenerife and, on a clear day, other Canarian islands. Drive and hike through the surrounding national park for surreal lunar and desert like landscapes, impressive lava rock formations and pine tree forests. 

Start your drive in La Orotava, preferably before sunrise, and make your way up to El Teide. If you drive the other way around (from the Vilaflor side), you won’t see El Teide for a big part of the way.

You want to go as early as possible, as it’s one of the major touristic highlights of the island. I arrived at Roques de la Garcia, famous rock formations in the national park, at 9 AM. There were hardly any people. I started hiking for about 3 hours and when I got back the place was overcrowded. The hike around Roques de la Garcia is an easy and very beautiful hike. If you want to do it as well, make sure to start your hike in the northern direction (it’s a circular route) for the best views of El Teide. 

Whale and dolphin watching in Los Gigantes

Head to the coastal town of Los Gigantes, famous for the views of its majestic cliffs rising out of the sea. In the port you can park your car and you see many stands offering whale and dolphin watching tours. They all differ in price, facilities, type of boat and duration. Always ensure that they have a “Barco Azul” or blue boat flag, meaning the company works according to the quality charter to ensure responsible tours. 

I truly recommend the El Rapido tour from Flipper Uno. They have a small office right at the entrance of the parking area in the port and a stand in the parking area itself. It’s a 1,5 hour tour for only 15 euros per person, which is very cheap compared to the other tours. El Rapido is a small boat for a maximum of 12 people. If you’re lucky you see both whales and dolphins, and you sail along the huge cliffs of Los Gigantes and Masca bay for impressive views. This tour does not include swimming at Masca bay, which most of the other tours offer. For me that was all fine though, as there are plenty of other places to swim on Tenerife.

The best time to see whales is in the morning. I arrived at 10:30 AM at the port and the first El Rapido tour left at 11:00 AM. We saw about ten whales and loads of dolphins jumping out of the water. A great experience!

Playa de Las Teresitas

The beaches of Tenerife aren’t great. Most of them are rocky with black sand, which generally isn’t the picture perfect idea of a beautiful beach. There is one exception to this, though. Playa de Las Teresitas is a (manmade) stretch of silky golden sand and clear blue water in the far north. The lack of resorts ensures that it’s relatively quiet, but there are still plenty of facilities for a pleasant stay. For instance, there are toilets, dressing rooms, a few bars and sunbeds. Also, if you drive a couple of minutes past the beach, you’ll get to a viewpoint with stellar views of Playa de Las Teresitas. Definitely worth a quick detour.  

Parque Rural de Anaga

The Anaga mountains in the far north of Tenerife offer some of the best scenery on the island. Here you find lush rainforests, winding mountain roads, remote hamlets, steep hiking trails and rocky cliffs.

When you enter the park you come across the Cruz del Carmen Visitors Center. This is the starting point for numerous hiking trails in the mystical Laurisilva forest. The hikes are signposted and the visitors center provides free maps for some of the self-guided walks. The duration differs from 10 minutes to a couple of hours. This is the most popular area for hiking in the park, but not necessarily the most beautiful. An alternative is to ask for a map with hiking trails in the entire park and do a hike somewhere else.

From El Bailadero, the roads splits into three directions. Continue onwards for a difficult yet beautiful drive to the tiny village of Chamorga in the far east of the Anaga peninsula. Some of the best hikes start in Chamorga, such as the PR-TF 6.1 trail from Chamorga to Faro de Anaga.

Go to the west from El Bailadero to visit Taganana, one of the oldest towns of Tenerife. The historic center is known for its white houses and a small church. Follow the road to the the black beach of El Benijo. If you want to go even further, start hiking the PR-TF 6.3 trail along the coast to Cruz del Draguillo.

If you head east from El Bailadero you’ll go to Playa de Las Teresitas. The perfect place to end your day.

Teno mountains and drive to Masca

The road from Santiago del Teide to Masca village offers amazing views of the surrounding Teno mountains. It can get busy after 10 AM with tour buses blocking the many U-turns, so preferably make your way up in the early morning. Most of the tourists stop in Masca and then head back, but the drive does not end there.

Just follow the road onwards to Buenavista del Norte for more impressive views, head east to the charming village of Garachico and then go back to Santiago del Teide via El Tanque. The last part of this circular route is at least as stunning as the drive to Masca and allows you to see El Teide on a clear day.  

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Have you already been to Tenerife or are you still going there? Would love to hear your plans. Make sure to read my guide on how to find cheap flights before you go!

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