Here is my review of Los Gigantes in Tenerife - as you can see, I quite like it!!!
My Experience:-
I have been here on holiday twice now. The first time we stayed in an apartment in Los Gigantes (below, what was, The Royal Sun Apartments for those who know Los Gigantes) itself and the second time we rented a villa just up the road in Playa De La Arena (both of the properties have now been sold - sorry!) The first holiday in the apartment it was mid July (03)! It is apparently the hottest time of the year to visit the island (so we found out afterwards!) It reached about 40 degrees when we were there and there was no pool to fall into to cool down. Air conditioning is an absolute must at that time of the year. Unfortunately our accommodation didn't boast such a luxury, and high temperatures even at night made for difficult sleeping! But we did get the most amazing sun tans during the day!!!! The locals tend to be up quite early, simply to get done what they can during the cooler hours of the day.
The second holiday was in December (04) for a spot of winter sun. This we did get but only just. It was, unfortunately, the wettest winter on record for that part of Tenerife and we were there in the middle of a tropical storm! The water flowed down the roads like rivers which was a little scary at times! We were able to look right out to sea from the villa and the fork lightening was….well…..you just have to be there! You could even hear the lightening crack! Fortunately the holiday was for 10 days so we did get a good couple sunny days, although not scorching hot. The evenings are just simply beautiful. We were lying out on the patio, looking up at the stars at 10pm in the middle of December still feeling the warm breeze - just simply amazing.
Los Gigantes is just a very little town in Tenerife and is by no means big! Its closest neighbours are Playa de la Arena and Puerto de Santiago which all seem to role into one if you didn't know!
Los Gigantes:-
The town of Los Gigantes is named after the imposing cliffs, of which the town lies at the foot of, which have the same name. The cliffs also mark the southern boundary of the beautiful Teno mountains, which cover the entire north-western corner of Tenerife. The cliffs are visible from the Archipenque Mirador or viewpoint, but are best experienced from a boat where they loom over you and you can distinguish the different colours and textures of the volcanic strata. You can also go diving off Los Gigantes harbour, although I personally have not done this yet, but believe it's an amazing experience. As you dive under the cliffs, there's a shear drop.
Off the coast of Los Gigantes there is a community of bottlenose dolphins that has been the focus of a small localized dolphin watching industry since the 1980's which is very educational for the kids and they even take local school parties on the boats to see the dolphins - its that unusual. The boat trip only lasts for about an hour but you can stay on for longer, the more you pay! There is, though, no guarantee that you will see dolphins, but there is a high chance you may.
In the town of Los Gigantes, there is a good array of shops and yet more bars and restaurants. In this part of Tenerife, for some reason, there seems to be an abundance of 'fake' Burberry goods! But you really would not know it was fake. You can get a handbag for (converted badly!) about £25 rather than about £200 for the real thing.
There are also many jewelry shops again selling very reasonably priced gold and silver (which I believe is genuine!).
Of course no one can come home from Tenerife and not have at least a small tube/bottle of the local Aloe Vera with them! It is grown on the island and is 100% natural. And is great for sun-burn (is it a coincidence its grown on the island?!?)
Playa De La Arena:-
Playa de la Arena does boast the finest beach in this region and it has been awarded the European blue flag for many years in succession which makes it a great beach to visit.
Its black sand is a constant reminder of the island's volcanic origins which is always behind you.
The beach is situated centrally along the main coast road, the Avenida Maritima, which has free parking right next to the beach although it is quite a challenge to find a space at times! There is also a choice of bars, restaurants and shops opposite the beach. But you do have to cross the very busy main coast road! Not very child friendly!!
Playa de la Arena beach has a gentle gradient and has pretty calm water most of the time. But as it is out in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, they do sometimes get quite rough seas, especially in the winter months (in the middle of tropical storm for example!!). When the sea is too rough to be on the beach, there is a red flag and when we were there, they cordoned it all off so you couldn't get down there anyway.
Puerto de Santiago:-
Puerto de Santiago is between Los Gigantes and Playa De La Arena Here you'll find a small fishing port, but in terms of beaches? - None! There is a top, middle and bottom part to the town, which makes it a bit sprawling, with a mixture of homes, hotels and apartments. There is a huge array of bars, shops, restaurants, a post office, and nightlife mainly in Santiago bajo (which we never found, but I believe is in the lower part of the town!) Possibly the most famous part of Puerto de Santiago, is the funny bend in the road that everyone seems to get jammed on! - including us! We somehow managed to get our car, with us as passengers, lodged between a coach and the curb - that poor hire car!! There isn't much else to say about the town to be honest, it's the kind of place you have to see for yourself to know what its like!
Getting there:-
To get to Los Gigantes, you can fly into the local airport Tenerife sur Reina Sofia ('Sur' meaning 'South' in Spanish) which is, of course, the South airport. The North airport is called Los Rodeos. But for this review, does not really apply as it is literally the other side of the island!!!
To get to Tenerife South airport from England, you can fly from most of the airports including even little Exeter airport and not so little Bristol airport! Also, you can go from Manchester, and as far as I am aware, all of the London airports, but don't hold me to it!!
A little bit of useless information for you!:- you can only fly into Tenerife South airport from the UK on Tuesdays and Fridays. As I have never been to the North airport, I don't know what days it is to fly into that one.
We hired a car which I would recommend as it's a little boring without, but there is a good selection of taxis if you don't what the hassle of a hire car. At the airport there are numerous car hire companies including Avis, Autos Reisen, Cicar, Europcar, Betacar, Hertz, and Record. We used Auto Reisen the first time and Avis the second as the Auto Reisen car was a bit of a joke! Having said that, the Avis one was not much better, so we gather it's just the standard of the island, not the company you hire from. The people at the airport are generally very helpful and ..well…Spanish! a happy, pleasant culture.
To drive from Sur Reina Sofia airport to Los Gigantes, it takes about an hour and a half, depending on how fast you drive in a strange car on the wrong side of the road!!
Where to stay:-
If I listed everywhere you can stay then I think Ciao will kick me off for a review that is to long!
There is a massive selection of Apartments in Los Gigantes itself along with villas and town houses and then there are all the hotels, and that's just in this small little town. Then there is Playa de la Arena which also has a huge selection of places to stay along with the 'the' most exclusive hotel in the area. Again there are a lot of apartments and villas up for rent to suit all pockets and holiday requirements.
Food:-
There is a wide selection of restaurants all around the area, posh and casual, then there are all the bars that serve food pretty much right through the day. It's not hard to find a bar or restaurant here as most of them line the road and side roads and are quite impossible to miss!
There are a few supermarkets in the area although they are somewhat like a Spar shop. On the Avenida Maritima (main road through Playa De La Arena) there is a little food store that sells English food, all from Tesco in fact! They even have Tesco carrier bags somehow!!
If you head out of the towns, there isn't very much apart from spectacular scenery and dramatic drops at the side of the road!
Mount Teide:-
You can't go all the way to Tenerife and not at least get half way up to Mount Teide. If you get to the top, then it's an amazing bonus. I would recommend you leave quite early 'ish' in the morning as it's a good couple hours to get to the top from Log Gigantes area. I must say though, the drive is NOT for the faint-hearted driver or passengers! It is a very scary drive with sheer drops at the side of the road and they do have rock slides which sometimes block the road. But if you do go, it is a treat when you do get there. It is also worth noting, if you suffer from Asthma or have poor breathing, I don't recommend you go to the top as it is VERY high up and a bit short of the old big 'O' stuff…..oxygen!!!!
Otherwise, enjoy yourself and have lots and lots of fun - it's not hard in tenerife!
I hope this review of Los Gigantes and the surrounding towns in Tenerife has helped you if you are planning a holiday there.
Thank you for reading. Sarah.
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