Most people who book Tenerife book the south. We fell for the north coast instead, and we have never once wished otherwise. This is the honest case for it, including the parts that will not suit everyone.
The two islands
Tenerife is effectively two places, and the thing that divides them is a mountain.
The trade winds blow from the north-east across three thousand kilometres of Atlantic, arrive loaded with moisture, and hit the wall of Teide. The air rises, cools, and drops its water on the northern slopes. What comes over the top is dry.
So the north is green — banana terraces, laurel forest, vines, ravines running with water after rain — and the south is effectively desert, with reliable sun and almost no natural vegetation. Everything else follows from that.
What the north gives you
Landscape you can walk into. Two of the walks in this guide start at our front door. The coastal path to Garachico goes through banana terraces; the laurel forest of Anaga and the volcanic country around Chinyero are within an hour or two.
Towns that are towns. Garachico, Icod de los Vinos, La Laguna, Puerto de la Cruz — places with their own history and their own economy, which existed long before anyone arrived to look at them. Garachico was the leading port of the Canary Islands until a volcano buried its harbour in 1706.
Better food, and cheaper. Fish landed locally, wine grown a few kilometres up the hill, guachinches where a farmer serves their own production for a few months a year. Weekend lunch is the main meal of the week and it is a genuine event.
Quiet. San Marcos is a village with two restaurants, a bar, a small supermarket and a beach. That is the entire offer, and it is the whole point.
What the north costs you
We would rather say this plainly than have you arrive disappointed.
More cloud. The same weather that makes it green makes it grey more often. Expect sun most days, not every day, and a cloud layer that rolls in and out. If you need fourteen guaranteed days by a pool, book the south.
A rougher sea. This is open Atlantic. Our bay is sheltered and calm, and there are natural rock pools along the coast, but you cannot swim just anywhere and the flags matter.
You need a car. Distances are small but everything is spread out, and buses run on residents’ logic rather than visitors’.
Less English. In the south you can holiday entirely in English. Here, a bit of Spanish makes a real difference — and is well received.
Who this coast is actually for
People who want to walk, eat, read and slow down. Remote workers, which is how we found it: fast fibre, a desk with a sea view, and a time zone that works with mainland Europe.
We came during the pandemic looking for somewhere quiet to work, fell in love with the coastline, and have been coming back ever since. Nearly everything else in this guide grew out of that.
Where to start
San Marcos, the village itself. Then Garachico ten minutes west, Icod de los Vinos eight minutes up the hill, and Puerto de la Cruz twenty-five minutes east when you want a proper town.