Puerto Santiago (the ‘de’ is usually left out) lies between Playa de la Arena and Los Gigantes. Its precarious main thoroughfare, which links the other two towns, is a narrow winding serpentine which could be quite disconcerting to anyone unfamiliar with the area. There are frequent blockages here and I recently saw a coach shatter an overhanging balcony while trying to negotiate the worst bend. It is possible to get from Los Gigantes to Playa de la Arena by going the ‘long way round’ – via the main island ring road – but then you’d miss all the fun.

In Puerto Santiago you’ll find a small fishing port but you’re limited in terms of beaches (there’s only one worth mentioning, and it’s not a big mention!). The resort is rather sprawling, a mixture of homes, hotels and apartments. As you would expect from a tourist resort, there is an assortment or bars, shops, restaurants, a post office, but little in the way of nightlife. As there is a large number of locals resident in the area you’ll find some excellent Canarian food available in the traditional restaurants. Like Los Gigantes (see below), the roads throughout Puerto Santiago are very hilly and may not be suitable for the elderly, the infirm or wheelchair users.

If approaching from the south, the first of the three resorts you will encounter will be the unimaginatively named Playa de la Arena (or in English ….. Sandy Beach!). We may joke about the name but in fact Playa de la Arena does boast, in our opinion, the finest beach in this region. Although smallish, it can confidently stand comparison with any other beach of similar size on the island. This is especially true when you consider that while many of Tenerife’s popular beaches are man-made using imported sand, the beach here is natural. Its black sand is a constant reminder of the island’s powerful volcanic origins. The beach is situated centrally along the main coastal thoroughfare, the Avenida Maritima, which has relatively easy (and free) parking facilities. If you get hungry or develop a thirst you will find yourself spoilt for choice by the many bars, restaurants and shops adjacent to and opposite the beach.

Oops! We have overlooked one important consideration: safety. In this respect we are happy to assure readers that Playa de la Arena beach offers a gentle gradient and often calm waters which are generally safe for children (who, of course, should never swim unsupervised, however good the sea conditions appear to be!).

Don’t forget also that as we are a small island and out in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, we are sometimes subject to rough seas, especially in the winter months. On the occasions when weather conditions prohibit bathing, a red flag flies on the beach. Don’t ignore it!

The resort itself is somewhat elongated, being built up in a thin strip along the length of the Avenida Maritima (main road), which cuts through the resort. It runs more or less parallel to the sea front for a couple of miles, with the beach at its heart. Here you’ll also find the beachfront promenade where you can have a stroll in the sunshine. Playa de la Arena is very much a modern resort and as such you will find some contruction ongoing. There are new apartments and hotels in progress and you will notice constant ‘cosmetic’ work being carried out, such as planting of decorative palms and, currently, erection of eye-catching new street lighting. However, all of this is on a fairly small scale and we do not feel that the degree of ongoing building work is likely to detract from the atmosphere of the resort or your overall enjoyment thereof.

For a relatively small resort, Playa de la Arena boasts a mind-boggling array of bars and restaurants of all shapes and sizes, although ‘nightlife’ in the sense of clubs and discos, while it undoubtedly exists, is on a much smaller scale than the larger resorts in the south.

Playa de la Arena is also home to the west coast’s only (to our knowledge) Tourist Information office. Here you will find English-speaking staff who can give you on-the-spot help and information, plus there is always a multitude of leaflets and pamphlets freely available, which will give you further facts and figures about the region. The telephone number for the office is 860348 (+3422 if phoning from abroad).

Hiking in Tenerife – Masca Ridge Walk Pt.4

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