Help me find peaceful Tenerife winter sun!

[WashableVelvet]

Hi MNetters. We’re hoping to head to Tenerife at Xmas/NY. We’d like to include a few days of easy resort sunshine with a beach etc which the kids (3 and 7) can enjoy without being overwhelmed - no big waves, really easy short walk to a simple beach, either self catering or at least some simple cooking facilities. want a few local cafes and a supermarket (no need for bars/nightlife/big facilities).

But we’d also like some reliable winter warmth - and I’ve heard that the big Las Americas / Cristianos resorts are in the sunniest spots, and they’re pretty huge. I’ve been there before and I remember walking through maybe half a mile of concrete roads to get to the beaches.

Where you recommend that’s low key enough for the kids but still at the reliably warm end of the island? Thank you!

We stayed in a villa in Palm Mar that was like this. I find google maps extremely useful when choosing a villa, you can see how residential a particular street is and how close to the houses around it.

Golf del Sur is lovely. Loads of cute authentic little cafes and restaurants, supermarkets, and the usual Spanish touristy shops. Only thing it's really lacking is a proper sandy beach as they're all black sand ones. We always choose to go to this area though as it's really peaceful and the coastal walks are epic. If we fancy a (proper) beach day we just get a taxi to one of the bigger resorts for the day, but my kids actually prefer the rustic beaches of golf del sur as lots of rockpools, and creatures to find.

Los gigantes is quiet , the beach is small. Nice restaurants. Boat trips from the harbour.

Most of the beaches are black sand. Around Costa Adeje they are yellow (I think the sand was brought from the Sahara), but it is tacky!

We don’t mind the colour - DH is a stickler for actual sand rather than pebbles/rocks - but black sand sounds fine!

I've done Tenerife at Christmas and didn't enjoy it. I've never been back.

From what you're describing, I'd take a look at Corallejo in Fuerteventura instead. It's beautiful. I took my daughter there a few times from being 4 months old.

Sorry if that's unhelpful if it absolutely has to be Tenerife, but worth a look if you're flexible.

Try Puerto Santiago just outside Los Gigantes. Nice shallow beach of black sand and good amenities. More of a village vibe with cafes and bars but not a nightclub scene. It’s also a good walk to Los Gigantes for a change of scenery.

El Medano is very close to the airport lovely beach lots of cafes. It is small and more popular with German tourists than English. We don't stay there but it's where we go to swim everyday.

We stayed in a lovely eco hotel near Costa Adeje in Feb, great location and nice and quiet

I’d suggest the south west of the island - Costa adeja and Los gigantos. We’ve always stayed in villas though so not sure how noisy hotels might be. The hotels are often nearer the beach which is convenient but check whether they’re also near bars/restaurants. December might not be full on beach weather in any event, Canaries can be quite windy which makes it feel cooler.

We’ve stayed near golf de sur in what was supposed to be a villa in a peaceful location but had very low flying planes (the south east of the island is near the airport) and construction works on nearby villas. Definitely not peaceful!

Yes a villa would be lovely (recommendations welcome).
@RainbowZebraWarrior what was it you didn’t like? It would be good to be aware. (We’d probably be inland in a village in a wine growing area at Xmas itself, then a resort at NY, if that makes any difference)

The main resorts I found quite noisy and very busy (certainly at New Year) and I didn't like the black beaches (which you've said you wouldn't mind) At the time, when we went there was a lot of pestering in the street for boat trips, bars, restaurants and the ubiquitous time share. I think the time share issue has been cracked down on, now.

I just never felt the need to go back, whereas I've been to Fuerteventura probably a dozen times (I've also been to Gran Canaria and Lanzarote, too)

What I did enjoy was a trip to Mount Teide Narional Park.

Thanks Rainbow. Sounds like a quiet resort area will be better certainly. We’ve spent NY in the capital Santa Cruz before and found it lovely - friendly and chilled. Appreciate the resorts will be different as they’re not cities in their own right, so I’ll look out for somewhere low key.