Tenerife is a world famous Spanish Island renowned as a tourist hot spot. It`s a wonderful place to escape from the rat race and develop a tan. Tenerife is the biggest of all seven Canary Islands which are located in the warm waters of the Atlantic. As well as being a tourist hotspot, Tenerife is also populated by more citizens than any of the other Canary Islands or Regions of Spain.

The Island`s bustling capital Santa Cruz de Tenerife is an enormous draw for tourists and it`s where the council officials and many prominent businesses are situated. Historically, between 1833 and 1927 Santa Cruz was actually the capital of all seven of the Canary Islands. Since then it has continued to prosper and it is both a commercial and business hub.

Buying and Letting in Tenerife

A Tenerife Estate Agent, Tenerife Royale recently published an article online which said research suggested a 35% increase in the number of Britons that were buying properties with a view to living on the island. A high percentage of the Britons who purchase property on the sunny Island are retired and choose to immigrate there because of the warm weather and relaxed lifestyle that Tenerife offers, additionally, however, many villas are buy-to-lets.

Approximately five million commercial tourists visit the Island each year and the majority of these come from the UK. As English speaking tourists find it easier to communicate with English landlords, they may prefer holiday lets from an English landlord over those from a Spaniard. This provides a business opportunity for British investors and has resulted in more Britons buying property in Tenerife in order to rent it out over the past 20 years than ever before.

These types of property purchases can be a strong return on investment. In the region of 20,000 residents in Tenerife are from the UK and some figures report around 40,000 properties currently owned by British buyers. Spain has not been as heavily affected by the recent economic crisis as other countries and the Spanish bank Santander has actually bought out many British banks, so the Island`s financial health is also good.

Getting there and Where to Stay

The easiest way to get to Tenerife is by plane, although it is possible to board ferries from the mainland and drive. Tenerife is the only one of the Canary Islands that has two separate airports. The Northern Airport, Los Rodeos is popular with cheap commercial airlines while the Southern Airport, Tenerife South-Reina Sofia Airport is a better choice for those visiting areas in the south of the Island.

There are superb hotels and hundreds of small guest houses on the Island and it is easy to find one which suits your taste and budget. However, it`s advisable to look online and read reviews before finalising a booking. Alternatively, you could book a cheap holiday in Playa de las Americas via package deal which would include flights, accommodation and with `inclusive` package holidays also you could add food and drink to the included items.

No matter what time of year you visit, you’re almost guaranteed to have a sunny stay in Tenerife, with average temperatures ranging from 18C in winter to 25C in summer.

Tenerife is just a short 4-hour flight from the UK, with almost daily flights from most airports.

The main tourist areas are in the south west of the island – with the resorts of Los Christianos, Playa de las Americas and Costa Adeje particular favourites for British and European holiday makers. The three areas are connected via a promenade that spans some 5 miles along the coastline. Transfer time from the main airport (Tenerife South) is approximately 20 minutes and will set you back around 25 euros in a taxi.

Once you get to your resort, have a wander around and get used to your location – you’ll probably want to visit the local supermercado (supermarket) to stock up on supplies. The running water on Tenerife has a higher mineral content than you’ll be used to in the UK, so it’s recommended that you drink bottled water.

The south of the island is blessed with many things to do during the day – either relax and get some sun or head off out to the newly-opened water park, Siam Park. You’ll also find plenty of sporting activities including beautiful golf courses and go-karting tracks.

If you fancy a full-day out, why not head to Spain’s highest mountain and climb to the top of Mount Tiede? A cable car ride gets you close to the summit, but you can actually reach the rim of the dormant volcano by getting a special pass from the island authorities.

If you like animals, you may want to head north to the excellent Loro Parque where you’ll find plenty of things to see including: dolphins, whales, gorillas and tigers!

After a busy day, you’ll most likely want to treat yourself to a nice meal out a night. There a plenty of fantastic restaurants along the southern coastline, with my particular favourites being The Boulevard (La Pinta Beach), The Great Little Italy (Playa Fanabe) and Vilaflor (Las Americas). All meals are reasonably priced at around 5-10 euros for chicken and chips to 15-25 euros for steak.

After your meal, you may want to treat yourself to a cocktail (hey, you’re on holiday). The Monkey Beach Bar overlooks one of the bays in Las Americas and serves a fantastic array of ice cream cocktails. If you’re nearer Adeje, you can treat yourself to a cocktail on the beach. This bar has fantastic recliner chairs that allow you to sit back, relax and listen to the sound of the waves gently crashing on the shore.

With its beautiful coastline, stunning volcano and great water parks, Tenerife really is the perfect place for year-round sun. Whatever you’re looking for on holiday, you’re sure to find it in Tenerife.

Ok, I admit it was a challenge. I was looking to rent a villa somewhere as warm as the Caribbean, as tropical as Hawaii and with enough attractions and surprises to keep me amused. I also didn’t want to fly a million miles to get there.

“Impossible,” my wife said.

“Tenerife,” said my neighbour Phil, and proceeded to convince me that the most famed Canary Island is not what it used to be.

Like many, my preconceptions of the island had been tainted by media coverage of teenage excesses in a neon jungle.

“It’s just not like that,” pressed Phil.

So uttering threats of evil retribution if proven wrong, I took his advice and decided to rent a villa in Tenerife.

Six weeks later, I’m writing a postcard on a near deserted beach in a horseshoe cove. I have a lot to say to Phil but before I start my wife returns. She delivers two iced bottles of beer and a plate of grilled sardines from the fisherman’s bar that sits in front of a handful of cottages to our left. In a clear blue sky the sub-tropical heat is being fanned by a gentle ocean breeze. The only sound is laughter from my two young children splashing each other in the clear waters of El Puertito, ‘the tiny port’.

In front of the bar a fisherman sits on the slipway mending an olive-green fishing net which spreads from his leathery bare feet to an upturned blue and red rowing boat at the water’s edge. A fading nautical cap shades his mahogany features from the fierce sun.

I have to admit it’s a far cry from the overcrowded beaches that I’d anticipated. But this is just one of the surprises that my neighbour had promised, and Tenerife had delivered. To be fair, even the resort beach of Playa del Duque where we’d spent the day yesterday could hardly be called ‘overcrowded’. The broad swath of golden sand provided more than enough elbow room for everybody. Plus the boardwalk promenade at the back harboured a variety of high-class bars, restaurants and shops in a village-like setting. Don’t get me wrong though, we hadn’t spent all of our time so far with bucket and spade in hand. We were determined to venture out and discover the ‘new Tenerife’ for ourselves.

Our villa in Costa Adeje provided the perfect base and breakfast on the terrace became our daily planning session. A day trip to the island’s capital, Santa Cruz, provided a fix of culture. Driving past the gravity-defying architecture of the Auditorium, its gleaming white roof curled into a peak like a breaking wave, set the tone for a day that was filled with many ‘wow’ moments. Not least of which was the restored old quarter, with brightly painted shops and shuttered tapas bars lining the cobbled lanes.

We paused for a coffee in a pavement café overlooking the newly revamped Plaza de España with its expansive lake, part of remodelling of the sea front side of the city to benefit the increasing number of passengers disembarking from the international cruise ships visiting the city.

With the aroma of strong coffee and fresh pastries, the café proved to be an atmospheric place to take in the comings and goings of the real Tenerife. Workers rushed purposefully from office to office, shoppers trudged with bundles of coloured bags from the pedestrianised tree-lined boulevards, and visitors like us weaved slowly in and out of the melee, stopping to consult a map or gaze up at a historic mansion.

From Santa Cruz we drove further north still, past the palm-studded sands of Las Teresitas beach. At the fishing village of San Andrés we veered into the hills, motoring higher and higher between sharp-ridged mountains that scored the verdant heights with a dozen shades of green.

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Emerging from a tunnel, we had a stupendous view down to the ocean, near which, clumps of white cottages lay like scattered sugar cubes on a green baize. We pulled over at Almaciga, nothing more than a cliffside cluster of whitewashed houses laced with narrow alleyways. On the coastal road were a trio of ocean-front bars and restaurants offering fresh seafood and frosty refreshments. Armed with a plate of squid, boiled potatoes, crusty bread and a jug of local wine we sat watching a couple of locals surf the waves breaking over the craggy coastline.

It was at the furthest point possible from Playa de Las Americas, separated from civilisation by 1,000-metre-high mountains and a turbulent sea. This perfect escape was the defining moment when I realised that by no stretch of the imagination could Tenerife be labelled simply as ‘a resort’ . But still this island of surprises had more to reveal.

Back in the south, we decided that renting a villa in Tenerife had been the right choice. Not only did it give us the freedom to do what we wanted when we wanted, it also provided a comfortable launch pad for island exploration and a relaxing home-from-home when we returned. Plus the year-round sunshine made villa rental in Tenerife a very appealing prospect for any time of the year.

The kids loved the massive wildlife theme park of Loro Parque in Puerto de la Cruz, particularly the astounding killer whale show. In the south, we’d all had a ball at the Siam Park, a wet and wild extravaganza of epic rides and watery kicks. But some of the biggest thrills came not from man-made attractions but from the natural wonders of Tenerife.

The cable car ride up Mount Teide, Spain’s highest mountain and the third biggest volcano in the world, provided spectacular views over the surreal lunar landscape of Teide National Park. It was easy to see why film companies used it as a backdrop for films such as One Million Years B.C. Rivers of frozen lava twisted around ash-black boulders and eerie statues of basalt. It was like nothing on earth.

A boat excursion from Los Cristianos took us a mile out into the Atlantic. Within minutes we were surrounded by pilot whales seemingly as curious about our camera-clicking group of catamaran passengers as we were of them. They came close enough to the boat to make eye contact, before blowing a spout of water and gently descending into the blue.

On the gentle cruise back to port, as the sun slipped behind La Gomera turning the sky a glory of red, my wife was the first to spot a school of dolphins leaping out of the water straight ahead of us. That single experience alone was worth flying four hours to Tenerife and back again, but combined with every other attraction and surprise I have no doubts whatsoever, even before this holiday is over, that we will be back to rent a villa in Tenerife very soon.

Back in El Puertito, I think about how to fit all of that onto the postcard, but the cool ocean beckons. I take a sip of beer and put the postcard down. Plenty of time to tell him all about it when I get home. I’m sure Phil wouldn’t want me to miss any of it, and there’s still a lot to see and do… the hidden village of Masca, Tenerife’s very own Shangri-La; the vineyards of La Orotava; a submarine excursion; the plummeting cliffs of Los Gigantes; a local fiesta… One thing’s for sure. Phil was right. This isn’t the Tenerife that we thought we knew. It’s just not like that.

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