A hike to Bollullo Beach - Tenerife, the diverse island - 14
Canada Blanca hike, drive to Costa Adeje and the lost place Sanatorio de Abona
Arenas Negras hike and stops at the Piedra de la Rosa and the observatory
Sunrise in the Anaga Mountains and a missed sunset at Playa de Benijo
Cruz del Carmen and the coastal hiking trail to Casa Hamilton
Hiking at Mirador de Samara and another visit to the south coast
Long time exposures at the sea and another drive through Teide NP
Sat, 18th Sept. - A hike to Bollullo Beach
I'm not in the mood to drive this morning. As the only hike I prepared for Puerto de la Cruz was the one I did on Tuesday, I try to find another one on the Internet. The typical sites are not really a help. The hike to Casa Hamilton in different variants is also there at the top of the list. So I take a look at Google Maps. There seems to be a way to walk to the beaches east of Puerto de la Cruz. As the satellite view is showing some rocks at the beach, I take the tripod with me.
It's debatable whether it's really a hike, since most of the trail is paved, but since you have to walk up and down frequently, I'd consider it one. It is not very different from the hike to Casa Hamilton, maybe even a bit more strenuous.
I walk from our hotel down the hill to the Carr. Botanico. If you're coming from the city center, you could find another way, but you need to gain some elevation anyway, so this easy-to-find road might be a good choice even then. In the middle of a long stretched right turn, you find a tennis court, where I'm turning left and in a small park is the access to a kind of promenade. I follow this nice path that runs between some apartment buildings and the shoreline - just at 30-40 meters.
The rest of the way is hard to miss. Partly I walk on small streets, partly through banana plantations. Then I have to go down into a barranco (the local expression for a gorge) and up again. The path is still well maintained with stairs downhill and uphill. Here you now meet the access road to the beach. You can drive up to a restaurant with parking (3 euro fee), but the road is so narrow that you can only hope that no one is coming from the opposite direction - or at least that they are willing to drive all the way back.
Whether you come here on foot or by car, you have to walk the path from the cliff to the beach yourself.
The beach is really nice, but we still have strong waves coming in and so the red flag is up. A lifeguard is on duty making sure no one tries to swim or gets too close to the cliff where there is danger of falling rocks. I stay here for about an hour, taking photos of various rock formations. Finally, I have enough and return to the hotel the same way.
In the evening I wanted to drive down to the city center, but as we're not sure where to go we change our mind and give the restaurant at the Tigaiga hotel a second chance. The hotel is close to ours, so we can walk and have a wine with our meal. The atmosphere on the terrace is nice anyway. This time the food tastes much better than last time and we enjoy a nice, last warm evening outside. Tomorrow we are at home - with 15 degrees less.
