Sunny beaches in February
It’s a fantastic feeling – after the darkest winter months, in February to enjoy the sun and ocean waves! In the second half of February, we went with friends to one of the islands of the Canary Archipelago – Tenerife.
Tenerife is a holiday destination is chosen by more than 5 million tourists every year, so our choice was not accidental. Although the hot season in Tenerife does not start in February, it has its positive side – the island is not crowded with tourists. Although, some attractions, such as tastings and visiting banana fields are not open to visitors that early.
The good news is that the Canary Islands are the European Union because they belong to Spain. Another benefit – in Tenerife, due to its mild climate, a lot of Brits spend winter months and you may be able to freely communicate in English, which makes holidays even more enjoyable.
Arrival to Tenerife
Just before we arrived in Tenerife, several Atlantic cyclones had blustered in northern Tenerife. After our arrival, most of the damage had already been repaired. However, after our arrival on the island, we experienced real – the day before, in the mountain areas heavy snow had fallen, which was afterwards enjoyed by both locals and tourists.
We arrived at Tenerife South Airport on a Ryanair flight from London Stansted. As we had already booked a car to travel around the island using personal contacts, a comfortable Ford Galaxy was already waiting for us at the airport. After a quick paperwork process, we went to our first destination Finca Vista Bonita, which is close to the airport, in the nearby mountains of San Miguel de Abona.
It was an interesting, quiet hotel with historic-style rooms and a wonderful view from the balconies of the rooms; the only thing we didn’t enjoy at this hotel was the indoor swimming pool – it was untidy and there was no desire to use it at all. Noteworthy is the restaurant Asador El Portillo, located near the hotel across the street; we even visited it later after settling in a completely different location on the island.
The restaurant served char-grilled pork, chicken, lamb and other meats, which were served on mini grills to keep the food hot. Everything was very tasty; there was also a good selection of drinks.
Mount Teide
The next day we decided to go in the direction of El Teide volcano. The peak of the volcano is the highest point in Spanish territory and the third-highest volcano in the world if measured from its foot to the summit.
One of the reasons to go to the mountains right away was the snow I mentioned earlier; it could be seen from very far away. The day was wonderful – the sun, blue skies, green trees in the mountains, fast-melting snow and even traffic jams on the road did not bother us.
Driving was quite exciting and challenging because in Tenerife they do not use winter tires.
From time to time, some cars, not able to overcome the mountain pass, turned around to return to the valley, but we were able and brave enough to reach and pass the mountain pass. However, our victory did not last long, as the shortest road to the volcano turned out to be closed. We didn’t worry much about it, because we had enough time to go again to the volcano, so we went to the west. The next place to visit was the coastal town of San Eugenio.
On the way, we visited the Tenerife Pearl Factory shop in Armenime. Similar experience we had before during our visit to Gran Canaria, so the girls already knew what to do on this unexpected occasion.
Accommodation
San Eugenio is a village in the southwest of Tenerife, just a bit north of Playa De Las Americas, one of the most famous and noisy resorts on the south coast. San Eugenio and the surrounding towns have great sandy beaches, so we chose to rent a comfortable summer house for the rest of the time in Tenerife; in the prospectus, they are called villas – our villa was in the Parque Las Flores complex.
To book accommodation we used the services of Tenerife Sun Vacations, a company registered in the UK, and were completely satisfied both with their services and the chosen accommodation. Our villa had a large living room with a kitchen, three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a large roof terrace and a large garden with barbecue – everything you need for holiday relaxation. Have to mention that in February we did not have our pool, so if necessary, we used the communal swimming pool next to the complex.
Attractions
The next day we went to the opposite side of the island to visit the famous Loro Parque (Loro Park) in Puerto de la Cruz. Loro Park is a large zoo, which constantly has shows of performing animals and birds – dolphins, whales, parrots, seals and others.
In addition, the park has a huge aquarium where you can see a variety of fish and penguins. You will only have to pay once when entering the park – everything you see inside is included in the ticket price. The most important is to allocate enough time for visiting Loro Park; we were there for about 6 hours and could spend there even more time easily.
