Dec 8, 2024
28.2916° N, 16.6291° W
Beach hunting in December? Porque no! At first, our efforts were focused on finding the best Christmas markets in Europe; our attention quickly shifted when we realized we lived in a city with some of the best already. Why spend all that $$$ when you have it in your own backyard?
What we don’t have is a warm climate and sandy beaches, so we pulled a full 180° and decided on a different part of Spain: Los Islas Canarias.
Day 0: Madrid to Canary Islands
We headed out Thursday evening after school; quick flight across the pond and the first time the three of us were on the same plane. What a moment.
First hiccup: couldn’t rent the car without an international driver’s license. $50 later and I am now legal to drive in 50 countries around the world, no driving test required.
Our place was in the Northern part of Tenerife. More of the locals side, where the south had the resorts and tourists. The place overlooked one of the natural pools in a town called Punta de Hidalgo.
Piscina Natural de Punta de Hidalgo
The Local's Norte
Day 1: Playa de Benijo
Morning essentials: groceries, smoothies, and coffee.
Destination for the day: Playa de Benijo. The majority of the island consists of windy, almost-single lane roads through the mountains; so pretty much everywhere we went was around an hour away. Despite Caro’s protest, I was sure to stop at as many vistas as I could to take in the scenery and maximize our travel time.
At the trailhead, we were greeted by a lovely parking attendant and/or the homeless man who helped us into our spot. We gave the man $2 and were on our way.
Las vistas son increibles, por supuesto. Any hike along the coast of a Spanish island is bound to be beautiful, and Benijo was no different.
Jake carried everyone's stuff
Coastline blues
Need more landscape shots
Now that’s what I call craggly
Wide. Open. Spaces.
The hike was a lovely little hike up and around the side of the mountain. It was steep, but the boys were thriving.
Jake flexin’
Happy Connor :)
Until we weren’t.
Sad Connor :(
Sad Isla :(
We had a false pass or two and settled on the rock that overlooked the coastline for lunch. In reality, that's all hiking really is: walking really far and uphill so you can eat a sandwich in a cool place. Such is life.
2025 Calf Goals
Big Bite!
The backside of the hike was even more stunning than the first, and we coasted downhill back to the beach.
I’d follow this path any day of the week and twice on Sundays
Looks dangerous?
The crew!
Post-hike, we noticed a giant ding in the back of the rental car. I hadn’t noticed it before since we picked up our car in the dark, but I bought the insurance and well, there was nothing we could do about it anyway.
The black sand beaches of Tenerife washed away my stress and I could feel my skin and hair revitalizing in the salt water. The weather was a little gloomy, but for a December afternoon, it was immaculate. After our dip, we hung on the beach for a little, but the hambre was coming and we decided to get going.
Stoke!
Big rock in ocean
Dinner sat atop a beautiful little hill that Jake found, and we munched some not-so-native comida: hamburgers. Pero, we also had these fish sticks that might have been the best I have ever had. Seafood on an island is almost always the way to go.
After dinner, we found yet another ding on the car in the front, and I was like “bruh.” Later, I remembered I took a video of the car before we drove off the lot! Turns out both those dings were there prior, and we had proof. Thank you father for a life-lesson well taught.
The drive home was windy. Imagine Decker Canyon en route to Malibu, but on crack and a single lane. It was already dark post-dinner so I was locked in, trying not to fall asleep to the rhythmic turns of our mountain passage. My IDL training hadn’t prepared me for this, but growing up trying to drive through Malibu Canyon using only knees certainly helped.
Day 2: Santa Cruz & Mount Teide
We started the day with a classic morning exploration, accompanied by the excitement of vacation and an empty SD card. Jake, Connor, and I searched around our place for a beach walk. Much of the coastline was cliff, but we found a nice little hangout spot with our new fisherman friend. After, I took a dip in that natural pool — it was a little chillier than I would have hoped, but a nice way to start the morning regardless.
Morning spot
Fishin’ with the locals
Time for a dip!
If there were waves, this would have been epic
Our task for the day was to figure out how and where we could surf. We found a sick surf shop to rent boards, but when we asked about renting for the day, my boy literally said just said no. No swell, super low tide, and just not great conditions. No surfing for us on this trip. Muy triste.
Instead, we audibled to the white sand beaches in Santa Cruz. Connor was convinced that the whole town gave Brazil vibes and he wasn’t wrong. We had a nice day on the beach relaxing, reading, napping. The sun broke through and I’m pretty sure I got a sunburn. We had a fire lunch right near the beach and dove into the seafood culture of Tenerife. Ocotopus, ceviche, fish sticks of sorts. All delicious.
Tato Surf
Santa Cruz, Tenerife
Are we in Cali??
Cinque Terre mixed with Cali giving Brazil, all in Tenerife?
Don’t know why, but octopus really does it for me
Ceviche not as much
Welcome to Brazil!
We drove straight from our Brazilian-esque holiday to Mount Teide for our stargazing tour. Connor was rather excited about seeing the stars because he had never had the chance to see real stars before. Not like a Big Dipper sighting on a date in Malibu Canyon, but real Milky Way over-the-horizon caliber stars.
Well, the Canary Islands would be a good spot to lose the Milky Way-ginity. It is the 2nd best spot in the entire world to see the stars and is home to three different Starlight Reserves. So Connor booked a specific tour for us to go and stargaze on one of these reserves, Mount Teide.
Driving up Mount Teide was incredible. We drove up just before sunset, winding through the national park, and then sat at the mirador for a mesmerizing sunset.
Sunset selfie
Whole crew!
Fire in the sky
At the top of Mount Teide, our luck ran out with incredible vistas. Our previously-hoped Milky Way sighting was looking slim and the clouds were blocking any view of the stars. Instead, we had a salesman of a tour-guide, Ozzy, who was an absolute menace at pulling facts out of nowhere to fill the 3-hour tour when we couldn’t see the stars. Sorry Connor.
Regardless, we explored around and sat in bushes and had a few breaks in the clouds. What we lacked in stars we made up for in delerium.
After a certain point, we told Ozzy peace out and chased our own stars. We found a little pocket that was still pretty darn cool, and then made our way home.
Little pocket
Looking at nothing…
Day 2: Paragliding, Puerto de la Cruz, Volver a Madrid
Today was paragliding day. Best way to see the city!
It ended up being epic.
You run off the side of the mountain, and glide through the air like a bird, using the thermals to rise higher in the air and then fall to the next one, and then rise, and then fall. Something very melodic about it. The technology they use is ingenious. A simple altometer that beeps when you are going up so you know you’re in a thermal without having to hold or look at anything.
Unfortunately, my guy was either terrible at his job or having an off day, but the whole finding the thermal thing, he wasn’t so good at. We were pretty low the entire time, and I was like: dude, que pasa? We didn’t even make it to the beach and had to land like halfway through the flight since my guy just couldn’t figure it out. But, hey, it was still a grand old time, and Connor and Jake’s first paragliding was a success.
Sailing away
Sorry Mom!
The rest of the day consisted of us stopping at various must sees as we made our way back to the airport.
First stop: Garachico. The descent was windy as hell and the road was tiny, and there was absolutely no parking. But the lunch. The lunch was immaculate. Oysters, sizzling shrimp, fiesta carne, and some dish that had a lamb vibe. One of, if not the, best meals I’ve had while in Spain.
We found a black sand beach to R&R. Stopped in Puerta de la Cruz for sunset.
Can’t miss with the seafood
Didn’t eat here, but I loved the sign
Final sunset
Connor searching
Puerto de la Cruz Cuatro
Always always always
Returned the car, guy said the gas wasn’t full enough, filled it up $3 worth, and returned it again.
Delayed flight. Lounge open! Late night Sunday return with an early workday in the morning. Worth it.
What a trip.
Oh, and there’s also a video!
