Playa de la Arena

Advantages: Family friendly resort with a lovely Blue Flag beach
Disadvantages: Not suited for those looking for all night clubbing!

Playa de la Arena (or 'Arena Beach' in English) is a small resort 45km (approximately 40 minutes by car) away from the Reina Sofia Airport on the island of Tenerife. As I have said in a previous post, I have been spending my summers in Tenerife for the last 11 years, but I have been visiting for two or three weeks at a time for nearly 20. The reason is that I have family out there who live in Playa de la Arena. The first thing to mention about ...
...clubs within walking distance of Playa de la Arena, the best and liveliest of these being Karaoke Bar Tropical, which is a Spanish bar playing loud, Spanish music until the wee hours of the morning. You won't find many English people there, but as long as you can order a drink in Spanish (or at least have a go) you'll be made very welcome and have a fabulous time. Anyway, back onto Playa de la Arena. The resort is located on the ever sunny West ... Read review

Advantages: year round sun
Disadvantages: nope, cant think of any!

...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... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Quiet, picturesque and relatively unspoiled. Year round sunshine.
Disadvantages: Very hilly. Parking can be a problem. Maybe too quiet for some. Small beach.

...a little bit of sunshine, then the south of Tenerife is still your best bet. However, please don't let the brashness of Playa de las Americas and Los Cristianos put you off a trip to the south of the island. Quieter resorts can be found a little further up the coast. Los Gigantes (as well as neighbouring Playa de la Arena and Puerto Santiago) are all very nice and offer almost year round sunshine. We discovered the resort of Los Gigantes over 15 years ago now, and we pop back every few years or so, and invariably find that nothing has very much changed there at all. There is still a total lack of nightclubs, very little noise (or light) pollution, and it's still as pretty and charming as ever. ~*~ GETTING THERE AND GETTING AROUND ~*~ Flights from the UK to Tenerife take around 4 to 4½ hours. You can fly to Tenerife from most... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Beautiful, well kept resort
Disadvantages: Not for clubbers or those with mobility diffculties

...Teide and its two closest neighbouring resorts are Puerto Santiago and Playa de la Arena. I have only recently reviewed Playa de la Arena so for the sake of this review I will concentrate on Los Gigantes and Puerto Santiago. The two resorts are right next to one another and tourists staying at each of the three resorts I've named usually spend their time between the three as all are within walking distance. In terms of places to stay, you won't go short! Since its establishment as a tourist favourite in 1970, the resort has grown rapidly. The first decision is whether you'd prefer self-catering or catered accommodation. There are plenty of reasonably priced places to eat around and about should you choose the latter option. I am very fortunate in that I have family out there with who I stay (free of charge!). But for those looking... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful