The best beaches in Tenerife, coast by coast

Tenerife isn't an island of big, natural, light-sand beaches, and it's worth knowing that before you arrive. The golden beaches of the south and Las Teresitas are man-made: breakwaters and imported sand, because the island's own sand is dark. That's precisely why they're the calmest. The natural beaches are black or grey sand, pebbles or lava, and in the north they tend to have strong waves.

In short: with children or for swimming, the south (Las Vistas, El Camisón, Torviscas); for a different kind of day, a sheltered black-sand beach such as San Marcos; for photos, Benijo. And the Blue Flag list has changed a lot: see it below.

Golden sand, black sand or natural pool

Golden or light sand. Imported sand, nearly always behind breakwaters: Las Teresitas, Las Vistas, El Camisón, Torviscas, El Duque, Fañabé, La Pinta. Calm water and full facilities. If you're looking for a "white sand beach in Tenerife", these are the ones, and none of them is natural. Note that Las Teresitas, El Duque and El Médano often appear together in lists and are three different things (Saharan sand, light resort sand and natural grey sand).

Black volcanic sand. The natural Canarian beach, from San Marcos or Playa San Juan to Benijo or El Bollullo. Some are calm and family-friendly; others have an unforgiving sea. El Médano has fine grey sand, and La Tejita dark volcanic sand.

Natural pools. Lava rock pools or seawater pools protected by rocks or breakwaters, mostly in the north: Bajamar, Punta del Hidalgo, El Caletón in Garachico. They're the answer where the open beach is dangerous.

Beaches in the south of Tenerife: Costa Adeje, Las Américas, Los Cristianos and El Médano

This is the sunniest, driest coast, and where nearly all the beaches with breakwaters are. Here's how the island's tourist board describes them in its listings:

Las Vistas is the best-equipped beach in the south and the only one on the island with adapted bathing all year, morning and afternoon, with two amphibious chairs and a hoist. Together with Los Cristianos beach, inside the harbour, it has the stillest water when the sea turns rough elsewhere. For what else to do nearby, see the guides to Los Cristianos and Costa Adeje.

El Médano has two sides: the town end is calm for families, and the far end of the beach is the kitesurfing and windsurfing zone (we cover it in surfing and kitesurfing). Behind Montaña Roja lies La Tejita, 1 km of dark sand in a protected natural area: vehicles aren't allowed onto the sand, so you park on the verge and walk five minutes. There are only bins and sunbeds.

Beaches in the west: Playa San Juan, Abama and Los Gigantes

Playa San Juan (Guía de Isora) is one of the island's best black-sand beaches for swimming: 360 m of black sand, lapilli and pebbles, sheltered by the harbour, with lifeguards, a children's area and a Blue Flag. Next door in Alcalá, the coves of La Jaquita also have a flag.

Abama is a small bay of light sand below a luxury hotel. The beach is public, but you reach it by parking at the hotel and walking down for about ten minutes, with steps, and the only facilities are the hotel's.

La Arena, in Puerto de Santiago, has black sand, a calm sea and full facilities, with assisted bathing all year from 10:00 to 17:00. It held a Blue Flag for 27 years and doesn't today, even though the official listing still says otherwise. Los Guíos, next to Los Gigantes harbour, is small, black and calm beneath the cliffs, with no parking and shade for part of the day.

Beaches in the north and Anaga

Las Teresitas, in San Andrés, about 10 km from Santa Cruz, is the island's best-known beach: 1,300 m of light sand brought from the Sahara in 1973, some 270,000 tonnes of it, protected by a breakwater. It has lifeguards, a paddleboarding school and more than 100 parking spaces. By bus, line 910 leaves from the Intercambiador (Santa Cruz's main bus station) and takes 20 minutes (€1.25 cash). It doesn't have a Blue Flag.

Anaga is home to the wild black-sand beaches. Benijo has strong waves, a path with steps, only bins for facilities and a following among nudists; line 946 goes as far as Almáciga and from there you carry on on foot. The last bus back leaves Almáciga at 20:35 on weekdays: if you're staying for the sunset, plan carefully. Las Gaviotas has very fine black sand and a sea that's usually moderate; nudism is accepted and dogs aren't allowed.

In Puerto de la Cruz, Martiánez is pebbles and black sand and is usually fairly rough. El Bollullo, just over the line in La Orotava, is beautiful but has a strong sea all year; the car park by the restaurant has fewer than 50 spaces, so it's better to walk from Puerto de la Cruz (about 45 minutes). El Socorro (Los Realejos) is fine grey sand with surfing waves and currents.

Further west, San Marcos (Icod de los Vinos) is the north's calm black-sand beach: 160 m in a shell-shaped bay, with toilets, showers, restaurants and a Blue Flag.

Natural pools

Where the northern sea won't let you swim, the island has pools.

• Bajamar (La Laguna): two large seawater pools and a children's pool behind a breakwater, with changing rooms, lifeguards, ramps and handrails. Blue Flag.
• Punta del Hidalgo (La Laguna): seawater pool with lifeguards, showers and access for people with reduced mobility; the El Arenisco pools have a Blue Flag, as do those at Jóver in Tejina.
• El Caletón (Garachico): rock pools formed in the lava from the 1706 eruption, with restaurants alongside. Suitable for everyone, but watch out for the waves when the sea gets up.
• Charco de La Laja (San Juan de la Rambla): a lava rock pool with no facilities, reached along a coastal path.

If you'd rather have something safe and paid-for, Lago Martiánez in Puerto de la Cruz has three children's pools, and in Santa Cruz there's the Parque Marítimo César Manrique.

Blue Flag beaches and closures: the current situation

Tenerife currently has 11 beaches and pools with a Blue Flag, the lowest number in seven years:

• El Duque and Torviscas (Adeje)
• Las Vistas (Arona)
• La Jaquita and Playa San Juan (Guía de Isora)
• San Marcos (Icod de los Vinos)
• El Socorro (Los Realejos)
• Bajamar, El Arenisco and Jóver natural pools (La Laguna)
• La Arena de Mesa del Mar (Tacoronte)

Two marinas also have a flag: the Real Club Náutico de Tenerife and, for the first time, Garachico harbour. Los Cristianos, El Camisón and Fañabé have lost theirs. The tourist board's listings still credit Fañabé, Troya, El Médano, La Arena (Puerto de Santiago) and Punta del Hidalgo with a flag: don't rely on them. The official list is published every May on banderaazul.org.

Flags and rules on the sand

Spanish beaches use three flags: green, swimming allowed; yellow, take care; red, swimming banned. Costa Adeje publishes a sea safety guide at costa-adeje.es. Nudism is accepted at La Tejita, Benijo and Las Gaviotas. And don't take sand, stones or shells home: removing them from a beach is an offence under Spain's coastal law.

Which beach to choose, depending on who you are

Outside Arona, according to the latest table published by Sinpromi (the island council's disability services company), there's also assisted bathing all year at Fañabé, Torviscas, El Médano (10:00 to 15:00), Playa San Juan, La Arena and La Jaquita. Full details are in accessible Tenerife, and more ideas for little ones in Tenerife with kids.

Kayaks, jet skis, parasailing and surf lessons all leave from the beaches in the south:

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When to go: weather and sea temperature

The south gets about 15 days of rain a year, against 30 in Santa Cruz and 64 on the La Laguna plateau: if the north wakes up cloudy, Los Cristianos is usually in sunshine. The water is coldest in March (about 19 °C) and warmest in September and October (about 23.7 °C), almost the same north and south; what changes is the swell. Between December and March the calima – a haze of Saharan dust – can blow in. More in when to go to Tenerife.