Tenerife Beaches

Tenerife's own sand is black, because the island is made of basalt and the beaches are made of the island. That is what you get in the north and in the wilder corners: dark, coarse, hot underfoot in the afternoon and quite unlike a Mediterranean beach.

The pale sand in the southern resorts was brought in. Several of the busiest beaches were built or extended with sand shipped from the Sahara and protected behind breakwaters, which is why the water there is flat and the swimming is easy. Both are worth your time, and the third option is the one locals often take: the natural rock pools and sea platforms cut into the coast where there is no beach at all.