For over 30 years, I have visited and driven the whole island with my family, visiting all the different parts of the island with our guide books. Now aged 55, with our youngest being 21, we decided to have a family holiday with our son and his friend, we decided to stay in different parts of the island but still close enough.
The boys stayed in Las Americas while we chose to stay in Adeje.
Even though it was a family holiday, we all wanted to do our own thing.
This time, instead of me driving around the island and finding more hidden gems, we both decided on taking tours so I could finally see the island we feel like home in, I got to see everything I'd missed for all of them years.
Visiting for holidays regardless of how long you stay Tenerife has so much more to offer as I discovered this year, instead of driving to the various places, myself and my husband decided to do some coach tours, we did the star gazing tour with Sunset & Stargazing Experience From Teide (definitely a must for everyone), stunning sunset views over La Gomera is absolutely stunning for this height, professional photographers are amazing catching breath taking pictures. Even witnessing a romantic engagement.
We arrived at our viewing point where high-powered telescopes would allow us to see our galaxy and a nebula, which are both amazing to see.
We were standing or lying in my husbands case right under the milkyway looking like it's a few feet away from us was breath taking, our travel guide Ozy was amazing, full of knowledge, and making it fun for all.
We also did the Teidi Masca tour, visiting remote and fascinating places, learning enough history to keep it from sounding like you were in a history lesson. The dragon tree is on this tour as well. Icod De Los Vinos is a beautiful area, (take a jacket or cardigan for the cooler weather in the north), the climate here is cooler than the south and gets the most rain, resulting in lush greenery all around.
I booked myself in for diving again and went out with the amazing crew from Suba diving Tenerife out of Puerto Colón, all the divers are amazing and put you at ease whilst diving ensuring your safety at all time's, as a disabled person I struggle to move correctly under water, my dive instructor Max is amazing with me, I have dived with Max a few times and he makes my time with them even more exceptional, for beginners or have your PADI certificate, you will not be disappointed with their service and diverse dive sites.
We also did the stunt parrasailing from 1000mt. This was amazing and over way too fast for my liking. My husband, who is petrified of heights, even enjoyed it once he got off the cliff ????, you are collected from your hotel by this company, Fly Tenerife, and they offer an amazing time.
The off-road buggy tours were a total adrenaline rush for the hour your driving off road, which is set up on vacant land close to where you start from. The setup of the off-road part offers the adrenaline junkie in you to really go and throughly enjoy, then it's a drive up Mt Teidi to the larva fields, such an amazing sight looking at the hardened black larve transports you to another place, with the rock formations that are free standing, to the huge inside walls of the caldera, the vastness is breath taking, the different colours in the rocks, the flora that grows around with the Tenerife pine trees, replacing what was once lost and the lizards are fun to watch scurrying in and out of different rock and wall places, nature at it's best amongst the devastating results of the volcano when it was active.
Of course, jet skiing has to be done. Our son is a natural out on them and loves the freedom zipping out on the waves, not advisable for people with certain health conditions and bad backs. Otherwise, an amazing time (memories from my earlier days) you see flying fish next to you and turtles swimming (you have to keep a fast eye out for them so they are not hurt) we always go from pontoon 4 they have the best jet ski's.
Eating out in Tenerife is easy to do with the vast amount of food restaurants and fast food outlets.
The best restaurant in Las Americas is illli on Av. Santiago puig, the breakfasts are so tasty and great value for money, family friendly and relaxing atmosphere, we have breakfast there every day to set us up for our adventure's, Hadi and his mum run both illi and The English Rose which is a few feet away from each other, The English Rose is more livelier and plays sports on the large tv's and different evenings from bingo and singing, so this amazing family offer everything you want to meet your needs, illi is a Lebanese restaurant that serves traditional Lebanese meals which are amazing and full of taste, aswell as English dishes, they cater for your children aswell so you can't go wrong eating here.
All of our excursions and activities are always booked with Carmon at Online Excursions, which is just a few more shops down from illi and The English Rose. You are guaranteed great value for your money for all your activities and excursions if you need to change your activity date this can be done free of charge 24 hours prior, the same with cancellations, contact Carmon or her husband 24 hours prior and get your money back no problems and no fees, you choose your activities or excursions etc and they book you in to the best place and company for you, we always go from Puerto Colón as we find the companies there are the best for the south of the island especially if you are located around that area.
The hotel we stayed at was Panaramica Heights, which is beautiful but not for people who have walking difficulties as it's set up on hills so the walkways are steep. The views are amazing from here looking out over Las Americas, Puerto Colón and Fañabé, watching the sun rise is like watching La Gomera grow out of the ocean as the sun rises and the clouds clear up from the island it's self.
Sunsets from around the South/South West are always stunning, as you visit/stay in different parts of Tenerife sun rise and sun set is magical.
The hotel has a swimming pool area for the kids and adults and is surrounded by lilos balls etc to use, I think they have been left by prior visitors, each night the hotel has a mixture of visiting singers from 8 pm - 10 pm allowing you to settle your little ones down as the complex is very quiet allowing you to really relax, unless you have a group of noisy guests that gather around the pool area.
There are plenty of sun loungers that are free to use, and 1 sun chase lounger big enough for 4 adults that can be hired.
All the units are fitted with air conditioners, which allows for a great retreat from the heat and a good nights sleep.
The mattresses are extremely firm but you can request a mattress topper for a little more comfort.
Our son and his friend stayed at the ALEGRIA Barranco, this hotel is best suited for the party guests, it's very noisy, not far from the stip and just up to road from The English Rose and illi restaurant.
To access your room, you do that from the veranda area. There are no internal doors. The pool is not that big and while the boys stayed there it was not used, people sit around chatting and are livelier, a lot of the guests sat round smoking cannabis which really put the lads off and said they would never return to the hotel ever again.
So if that's your scene, it's a cheap hotel to stay.
We flew with Jet2 the plane was spacious giving the amount of passengers, the seats and more comfortable than cheaper airlines, we opted for seats with the extra leg room, it was well worth the money, if like myself who struggles to sit straight up and feet down then no airplane is comfortable as the seats are not wide or recline, so for me all air travel is painful, but each to their own depending upon your physical health.
On the way home, we used the VIP Lounge where all the food and drinks are free once you pay the entrance fee, they have a smoking area there as well if you require it. You are allowed in there 2 hours prior to your flight, but give yourself plenty of time to get to your departure gate due to the renovations at Tenerife South airport the VIP Lounge is situated at the furthest place from the depending gates.
We hired a car for our time on the island so we could get around and visit the places we wanted to either just my husband and myself, or all 4 of us, as a heads up if you are a family of 4 adults a normal car will not fit all your cases and hand luggage in, we had 2 case's in the boot and the other 2 cases 4 hand luggage and my hand bage squashed in the car with us, I upgraded to a 7 seater vehicle which was the same model as I use at home, so it was a lot more comfortable travelling in and returning to the airport in, so definitely shop around for your car hire.
Baby car seats can be hired but you have to fit them yourself and the companies don't take any liability for the use of the seat.
So to sum up our 2 weeks holiday we have absolutely nothing to complain about and look forward to our next visit.