Los Cristianos and Playa de las Américas: where to stay in south Tenerife

The south-west corner of Tenerife is really one continuous strip of coast, about 12 km long, running from Los Cristianos in the south up through Playa de las Américas into Costa Adeje. Almost every visitor stays somewhere along it, and almost every visitor arrives unsure which of the three names means what. They are not interchangeable: they have different beaches, different noise levels and different prices, and the walk between them takes longer than the map suggests.

This guide covers the Arona end — Los Cristianos, Playa de las Américas and the quiet villages either side of them. For the Adeje end, see the Costa Adeje guide.

Los Cristianos

Los Cristianos was a fishing village before the tourism came, and unlike its neighbours it still has the shape of a town: a working harbour, a church square, a Sunday market, streets that do things other than sell beachwear. It is flat, which sounds trivial and is not — it is the reason Los Cristianos has long been the base of choice for older visitors, wheelchair users and anyone spending three winter months here rather than a week.

It has two beaches. Playa de las Vistas is the big one: a kilometre of pale imported sand behind a breakwater, calm enough for weak swimmers, with a fountain out in the bay and assisted-bathing facilities in season. Playa de los Cristianos, the original beach by the harbour, is smaller, darker and more sheltered still. Behind both runs a promenade you can follow all the way to Las Américas in about half an hour.

The harbour is also the ferry port: La Gomera is under an hour away, La Palma and El Hierro a longer crossing. An island-hop day trip is genuinely realistic from here, which is not true from most of Tenerife.

Playa de las Américas

Playa de las Américas is the purpose-built resort — put up in the 1960s and 70s on what had been empty coast, and it has never pretended otherwise. What you get is convenience and volume: a dense run of apartment complexes, a promenade of restaurants and bars, and a chain of sheltered golden-sand beaches (Playa de Troya, Playa del Bobo, Playa de la Pinta) two or three minutes from most front doors.

It is the loudest part of the coast after dark, though that is concentrated: the nightlife clusters around the Veronicas strip, and streets a few hundred metres away are ordinary residential blocks. The boundary with Costa Adeje runs through the middle of the resort and means nothing on the ground — the promenade simply continues, and Siam Park and Siam Mall sit just the other side of it, walkable from the northern complexes.

If you want to be in the middle of this, the Playa de las Américas apartments collection gathers the stays that are a short walk from Troya, Bobo and Las Vistas.

The quiet alternatives

Same coast, same weather, a different holiday. Palm Mar sits at the end of its own road between Montaña de Guaza and the Malpaís de Rasca nature reserve, about 3 km from Los Cristianos, with a small beach and a flat coastal trail to the Rasca lighthouse on the doorstep. Callao Salvaje, further north past Costa Adeje, is a low-rise village with a small beach five minutes from the complexes. Costa del Silencio and Los Abrigos, east towards the airport, trade beach for rocky bathing and very good fish restaurants.

These suit long stays, winter sun and anyone who wants the balcony door open in the evening. Our Palm Mar and Callao Salvaje guide covers the two villages in detail. See the Quiet Coast collection, or browse everything on the island in Tenerife Island Retreats.

When to come

The Canarian season is upside down compared with mainland Spain, and this is the single most useful thing to know before booking.

• December to March is high season. Daytime highs sit around 21–23 °C, rain is rare on this coast, and northern Europe books it months ahead. Prices follow.
• April to June is the quiet stretch: the same sun, a warming sea and noticeably lower rates before the school holidays.
• July and August are the mainland-Spanish peak — busy and hot, but the trade winds keep the coast bearable.
• September and October are the best swimming months, with the Atlantic at roughly 23–24 °C and the crowds gone.

Two things catch people out. The calima, a Saharan dust haze, can arrive at any time of year and flatten visibility for a day or two. And the Canaries run on GMT/UTC+0 — one hour behind Madrid, the same clock as the UK and Ireland.

Getting there and around

Tenerife South (TFS) is 15–20 minutes away down the TF-1 — the airport nearly every northern European flight uses. Tenerife North (TFN), near La Laguna, is over an hour away and mostly handles inter-island and mainland routes, so check which one your flight lands at before you book a transfer.

Taxis and pre-booked transfers are the simple option. TITSA's green guaguas are the cheap one, with frequent services from the airport along the south coast and between Los Cristianos, Las Américas and Costa Adeje; a rechargeable travel card cuts the fare well below the cash price. Within the resorts you rarely need either — the seafront promenade is flat and continuous for several kilometres.

Hire a car for the island itself: Teide National Park is about 75 minutes up the TF-21, the Los Gigantes cliffs and the road down to Masca fill a day, and whale-watching boats leave from Los Cristianos harbour and Puerto Colón to see the pilot whales and bottlenose dolphins that live year-round in the strait towards La Gomera.

What to eat

Canarian food is its own cuisine. Start with papas arrugadas — salt-crusted potatoes — with mojo rojo and mojo verde, add queso asado and the toasted grain flour called gofio. The fish is the point at the Los Cristianos harbour and in Los Abrigos: vieja, cherne and sama, grilled whole and priced by weight. Local volcanic wines from DO Abona grow on the slopes directly behind the resorts. Finish with a barraquito.

Planning your stay

Pick by the thing you will do every day. If that is walking into a town, choose Los Cristianos. If it is a two-minute walk to a sheltered beach with everything open around you, choose Playa de las Américas. If it is a quiet terrace, choose Palm Mar or Callao Salvaje. Then browse Playa de las Américas apartments, the Quiet Coast, or all our stays and collections. Booking direct means no booking-site service fee on the total.