Tenerife has long had the reputation of being a party island; however it is so much more than that. A gorgeous volcanic island, the destination is rich in flora, sea views and craggy beaches. This year, we took a family trip to Tenerife at the same time as my parents, who were heading to Greece. Our family had a recent bereavement that we were all still feeling repercussions from, so it felt very fitting and comforting that is was a family trip, as opposed to the other usual styles of trips I take, like group or solo. We met my parents at the airport, and it was lovely chilling, chatting and being in a big(ger) group, before we separated for our respective gates.
Our final destination was Los Gigantes, a quiet town on the west coast of the island, which offered a plethora of activities aside from partying. So, non partiers, don’t disregard Tenerife; read on to embrace its beauty and other offerings.
Dining
We ate very well on this trip, and I’d never even considered Tenerife as a food destination. When it came to restaurants, we didn't really do much research; instead, we just went wherever our feet took us, then quickly looked at the Google or TripAdvisor rating once we found somewhere we liked.
On the first day, we landed late evening - around 7.30pm - on a Sunday night, so finding a spot to get dinner once we'd settled in our apart-hotel initially proved difficult. However, we stumbled across Rasie Steakhouse BBQ Place not too far from our hotel, ordering moments before their kitchen closed. For this last minute choice, we were surprised by the quality of the burgers, steak and mussels.
On our second night, we headed into Los Gigantes town and ate at Ohana, a welcoming spot with panoramic sea views. The sangria, paella and sea bass were particularly standout, and their levels of seasoning on all dishes was sooo good. We watched the sky change colour as we progressed through our meal, with an uninterrupted view as the sun finally set. We were lucky enough to have a south facing balcony back at our apartment, so enjoyed pink skies from there too on some evenings.
We had other meals on the trip too, of course, but the crème de la crème was the impromptu six-course meal we ate at Imperial Tai Pan, located in a shopping centre near Playa de las Vistas in the Playa de las Americas area. We managed to snap up a table before the slew of bookings, and despite their casual dress code, the design of the restaurant, level of service and food was more akin to a fancier dining experience. We chose a set menu for four or more people at a rather modest price, but boy, were we surprised. We had chicken, duck, ribs, beef... the sauces were glorious too. We were impressed, so took the servers advice and spent some of our evening afterwards at sister venue, Magic.
Shopping
Now, I'm not a fan of shopping; however, two of our group were, so we ventured to a few malls. The quality and pricing of clothes in Tenerife , even at the Spanish counterparts of the high street stores we have in England too, was brilliant. One of the places we ventured to, Siam Mall, was not only good for shopping, but it was absolutely beautiful, with Thai-inspired architecture, and so many palms peppering the sparkling area. The area would not have been out of place in LA... or Thailand, of course.
Waterpark
Tenerife is home to the largest waterpark in Europe: Siam Park - close to the aforementioned Siam Mall. My goodness, it is like another world! Genuinely, I felt like we stepped into Thailand! Stretching 185 square kilometres, the water rides are just half the attraction; the décor is so intricate, the walkways resemble tropical jungles, and everything is just beautiful. I'm not a rides kinda gal, but I absolutely loved the beach area - a MASSIVE fake beach with swaying palms, sparkling water and even sand - and enjoyed the crazy wave machine, which was turned on every so often. I also enjoyed the lazy river, where you float in a single, double or triple floaty down the waterway, which goes around a large portion of the waterpark. The others ventured on actual thrilling rides, speaking highly of every single one - especially the 26-metre vertical drop one, with views of the whole side of the island, and a crazy G-force.
Swimming
Keeping on the water theme, beach and pool days are obviously a must on holiday, and there was many an occasion, and setting, for swimming in Tenerife. Of course, the first full day of the trip was full holiday mode: hotel pool, reading and sunbathing. In Greece, I spotted people with a watermelon floaty, so on my return home, I went straight to Amazon and purchased one myself - floating in the pool in Tenerife in a watermelon was so serene.
The following day, we headed to Playa de las Vistas for a sandy beach day, as the ones near our hotel in Los Gigantes were largely rocky. The beach stretched for miles, and was a sunny spot, with beautiful blue sea. The waves were absolutely crazy (and claimed a pair of sunglasses and a swimming nose clip from our group), so we mostly waded instead of all-out swimming in the sea. Letting the waves crash into us was a simple pleasure, and the day was incredibly restorative. Some of the group even tried the local Maccers, and I've gotta say, they've got some nicer stuff than our English counterparts. They even serve
cervezas for those beer lovers amongst you...
Back in Los Gigantes on our final day, we started to embark on a coastal walk to further admire the area, with views of the sea stretching as far as the eye can see. The lofty mountains dwarfed the buildings in the area; to see the mountains on a clear day was astounding. Anyway, as we began this walk, we spotted Piscina Natural de Los Gigantes down towards the sea from our lofty position in the coastal walk. We hot footed it (literally... we were sweating haha) back to the hotel luggage storage room, and chucked on our swimmers. Swimming in the natural sea pool was one of my favourite parts of the holiday. My younger cousin guided me through the incredibly slippy moss covered rocks in her Crocs, and we swam/floated as we admired the craggy rocks around us, and the sea that stretched far out right in front of us. It was the perfect end to an incredible holiday, and the fact it was impromptu made it all the more sweeter.