Introducing Tenerife
Tenerife really is a very remarkable island with many contrasts, whether it’s the climate, terrain or the resorts. Tenerife has unfairly perhaps gained a reputation of being a holiday destination for boozy tourists intent on partying from dusk to dawn , with tacky resorts offering fish and chips to the masses. Although there are undoubtedly these things on offer Tenerife has so much more of offer and is a natural wonder.
Tenerife is a volcanic island with its peak, the volcano Teide rising to 3718m above sea level. There are reputedly 32 different micro climates on Tenerife and there effects are dramatic. From the South where it is hot and sunny almost the whole year round to the north were there is higher rain fall and lush sub tropical vegetation. Being Spain’s highest mountain it get to attract cloud caused by the moist trade winds coming from the northeast, being pushed up the mountain where it condenses and causes clouds to form. This cloud forms around the mountain particularly to the north.
The south of Tenerife is hot dry and arid, the north green with lush vegetation.
Tenerife is the largest of the seven major Canary Islands and lies about 300km off the coast of Morocco in North Africa, and is blessed with almost perpetual sunshine and cooled by the Atlantic trade winds. Tenerife has been called the island of eternal spring and has become an all year round tourist destination.
It is to the south of Tenerife that most tourists flock with its reliable sunshine, nightlife, theme parks and entertainment of the purpose built resorts such as Playa de las Americas and Los Christianos. There is plenty of choice for the water sports enthusiast, with diving, wind surfing and sailing all on offer. For hikers and walkers there is the north and central areas of Tenerife where there are plenty of county trails to explore.
The north of Tenerife is the home of Puerto de la Cruz, which was once the main tourist resort on Tenerife before the development of the resorts in the south. The town is surrounded by lush vegetation on the hills above.
On the north eastern coast in the modern day capital of Tenerife Santa Cruz de Tenerife, it was off this coast in 1797 that Nelson, then a Rear Admiral, lost his right arm in an unsuccessful attempt to take Santa Cruz.
All the Canary Islands belong to Spain, which is 1120km to the north east, and geographically belong to the same group of islands as Madera and the Azores. The islands started to form about 40 million years ago during the Tertiary period due to the movement of the continental plates, which caused a weakness in the earth crust, where magma pushed through and formed the volcanic islands.
The Canary Islands are the tips of volcanoes that rise from the Atlantic Ocean floor; the peak of mount Teide is 7000m above the sea floor and makes Tenerife the 3rd highest volcano in the world.
The Mountains
The island of Tenerife is dominated by the peak of Mount Teide which is the highest mountain in the Canary Islands and the whole of Spain. It is ever present from the whole island. In the winter it often snow capped which adds to its beauty. The peak of Mount Teide rises from the Las Canadas caldera, which are the remains of a previous volcano the collapsed millions of years ago. There are other volcanoes on Tenerife that include Pico Viejo at 3105m, and Montana Blanca at 2750m, which are both near Teide, and to the northwest is Volcano Negro at 1626m. The last volcanic eruption on Tenerife was in 1909 at Mount Chinero when it erupted for 10 days. The volcanoes of Tenerife are now dormant but geologists believe there is a possibility of eruptions during the next century.
There are no rivers on Tenerife, but there are deep valleys called barrancos that turn into raging torrents after heavy rain that flow out ward from the mountains to the sea.
Tenerife‘s coast line is for the most part formed of volcanic rock created after millions of years lava flows. The natural beaches of Tenerife are made of black volcanic sand, there are however, man made beaches of golden sand imported from the Sahara Desert at Playa de las Americas and at Playa de las Terresitas near Santa Cruz. The north eastern coast has some very dramatic cliffs with the some rising straight out of the sea to over 600m.
Most hotels and apartment blocks have excellent swimming pools that make up for the lack of beaches, and at Puerto de la Cruz there is a sea water lido complex and at Garachio there are volcanic rock pools were you can bath.
