Tenerife - from a residents' perspective! (Tenerife)

Member Name: chicklitreviews

Product:	Tenerife
Date:	13/08/09 (166 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Beautiful island & scenery

Disadvantages: The bad rep it gets

The History of Tenerife:

Tenerife, a Spanish island, is the largest of the seven Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa. Tenerife has an area of 2034.38 square kilometers, and 886,033 (as of 2008) inhabitants, which make it the most populated island of the Canary Islands and Spain. Tenerife is an important tourist destination in Spain and in the world.

The earliest known human settlement in the islands date to around 200 BC, by people known as the Guanche. They were characteristically tall, powerfully built Scandinavian-looking people with blue eyes and long, fair hair. They had little technology, even by Stone Age comparison and dressed in animal hides and lived in caves on the island. According to legend, many islands in the chain, among them Tenerife, were believed to be the uppermost peaks of Atlantis, which catastrophically sank under the ocean leaving only the highest mountains above sea level.

(Taken from Wikipedia)

My Thoughts on Tenerife - mainly Tenerife Sur:

My mum, dad, sister and I have lived and worked in Tenerife Sur for 6 years (since December 2003). We ran a bar when we first moved here but now manage apartments in Las Americas and Los Cristianos. We live away from the Americas/Cristianos-tourist-y areas in Los Menores.

Everybody frowns upon Tenerife calling it an 18-30 type resort and that's true to an extent - Las America and Los Cristianos are the tourist areas but that isn't the whole of Tenerife. If you're looking for somewhere quieter to stay - you could stay out in Callao Salvaje, or closer to Las Americas in Fanabe.

There are plenty of hidden gems to discover on your holiday to Tenerife. You can take the ferry over to the neighbouring island of La Gomera - we still haven't been but have heard lovely things about it. You could take a Titsa bus up to the capital, Santa Cruz and have a wander around there. Or go a bit further to Puerto de la Cruz... the list is endless if you're looking to explore the island.

One thing you absolutely have to do is go up to Mount Teide. It's like being on an entirely different planet. I went a few years ago on the bus up there and really enjoyed it but more recently we took the scenic (long) route with the dogs. As you rise above the clouds all you can see is greenery, a whole host of mountains as well as all the volcanic ash next to the roads from years before. It's a surreal experience and one you have to see to believe.

The mountain itself is very impressive. If you have the money you can pay to go to the top of the mountain on a cable car but just staying at the bottom of the mountain is impressive, you can get our and explore. We carried on further and come across a bar (filled with bikers!) where we could stop and walk the dogs. It was a great day out and we also got to see where they are filming the new Clash of the Titans!

There is also plenty on offer to keep the kids happy. There's the Aqua Park which was the only waterpark in Tenerife until the Siam Park came along last year which has now blown Aqua Park out of the water. Aqua Park is great if you're on a tight budget but, from what I've heard, the Siam Park is well worth a visit. We pass it on the way into work and from the outside it looks fabulous. There's a manmade beach, plenty of water-slides, you can hire a beach hut for the day. We haven't been yet as not only is it a bit expensive it's also incredibly busy.

If water isn't your thing you can head to the Jungle Park - one of two Tenerife zoo's. It has a host of animals and, like Aqua Park, is great if you're on a budget. However if you want to see a wider range of animals you can head to Loro Parque in Puerto de la Cruz. I've only been to the Jungle Park and we really enjoyed it - well worth a visit. You can buy double tickets to Aqua Park & Jungle Park (35Euro adult, 25Euro child) as well as Siam Park & Loro Parque (49Euro adult, 33Euro child) to try and save a bit of money.

The weather in Tenerife is always hot and sunny and this year especially has been no exception. This is by far the hottest summer we've had here in Tenerife with temperatures topping 50 degrees. It was so bad they had to close the BBQ areas up near Mount Teide due to the risk of forest fires!

There are also plenty of boat trips to whet your appetite. Go out, see the dolphins, some even offer the chance to swim in the sea while you're out there. You can also go go-karting at the track in Parque de la Reina, that's always fun!

If you're looking for English breakfasts and English food there are hundreds of bars and restaurants. Some good, some bad, it depends on your taste. You could also go into a Spanish bar and have some tapas!

I also must mention the Policia. As I said, we've lived here six years and it's rare we hear of muggings or break-ins at apartments - they happen, obviously, but the police deal with it well! The Policia are very strict with criminals and there are plenty of Policia wherever you look as well as the Policia Local & Guardia Civil. They definitely run a tight ship which is more than you can say for British police.

Tenerife really is worth a visit - you hear about the drunken young-people and the tourist-y-ness of Las Americas and Los Cristianos but you don't hear about how beautiful Mount Teide is or how much more of Tenerife there is to visit - Costa del Silencio, Las Galletas, Los Gigantes, Golf del Sur.

Tenerife really is a beautiful island and is well worth a visit.

Summary: An island worth seeing