Swimming on Tenerife’s north coast takes more thought than in the south. The Atlantic here is open, cold and often rough, and the coastline is volcanic rock rather than sand. But the places that do work are excellent, and one of them is at the bottom of our hill.
Start with San Marcos
Playa de San Marcos is a small bay — around 160 metres of black volcanic sand — enclosed by cliffs on both sides. That geography shelters it, and it is why this is the calmest water on this stretch of coast and the beach families use.
It is lifeguarded in season. Take water shoes: the sand gives way to rock and pebble, and there are pairs in the box on the balcony.
The rock pools
The north coast’s real speciality is the charco — a natural pool formed where a lava flow met the sea, sometimes tidied up with steps and a wall. They give you sheltered salt water with the swell breaking on the far side of the rock.
- El Caletón, Garachico — the best known, formed by the 1706 eruption that buried the town’s harbour. Ten minutes away, and combines with lunch at Tasca El Muelle Viejo.
- Charco de la Laja, San Juan de la Rambla — smaller and more dramatic.
- Charco del Viento, La Guancha — a local favourite, reached down a rough track.
And in Puerto de la Cruz, Lago Martiánez is the engineered version: a complex of seawater pools designed by César Manrique, which is the safe option on a day when nothing natural is swimmable.
Reading the conditions
Take the flags seriously. Green is safe, yellow means caution, red means stay out — and on this coast red is not a formality. The swell that carved the charcos is still arriving.
Conditions change fast. A bay that was flat in the morning can be unusable by afternoon, and that is normal here rather than exceptional.