For a beach week, Tenerife means the south-west. Costa Adeje has the calmest beaches on the island, linked by one promenade: Playa del Duque, a Blue Flag beach at the quiet end, then Fañabé, with lifeguards and sunbeds, and Torviscas, whose breakwater keeps the water usually calm. Beyond it the shore changes fast: rock and pebbles at La Caleta, black volcanic sand at Alcalá, a 100-metre cove of pale sand at Playa de Abama, and sea pools and black-sand beaches in the north. Spanish law keeps every beach public, so what differs is how close the sand is and what the hotel lays on.
Decide what the day is built around. If it is the sea, sleep across the promenade from it. If it is the pool, the two west-coast resorts have pools for every mood and the sunset over La Gomera, and the villa hotels on the Golf Costa Adeje hillside give you one of your own, with the beach a short drive down.
If sand is the point of the trip, start here. Playa del Duque, a Blue Flag beach at the quiet end of Costa Adeje, lies just across the promenade, a two-minute walk away, and Upalupa, the hotel's restaurant beside it, is open daily from 12.30 to 11pm. The promenade runs flat to Fañabé, 14 minutes on foot, when you want a livelier beach with lifeguards and jet skis.
Back in the gardens there are six pools: two saltwater, three freshwater with two of those heated, and a heated pool for children. In a February week the heated ones fill first, so go down early.
The room to book
Casas Ducales Junior Suite
40 to 45 m²
With the sea-view supplement paid, the beach is in the window, and the wing adds its own breakfast terrace and a solarium with complimentary drinks.
Here the pool is the point: a saltwater infinity pool of more than 5,000 square metres with 80 water beds, billed by the hotel as the largest of its kind in Europe, running out towards the Atlantic with La Gomera on the horizon. A separate family pool and a children's pool with a pirate ship sit around it, and two more pools are adults-only, one of them kept for RedLevel guests and open 10:00 to 18:30.
The sea is for the view: the Areia beach bar is built on the rocks, where swimming depends on the swell, and Playa de Alcalá across the road is a small strip of black volcanic sand, so come for pool days and sunsets. In school holidays the loungers by the big pool go early, and the RedLevel pool is the calm alternative.
The room to book
RedLevel Junior Suite Ocean Front
54 m²
The Atlantic straight ahead from the terrace, and the RedLevel lounge and adults-only pool to retreat to when the big pool is busy.
Of our ten, The Ritz-Carlton Tenerife, Abama comes closest to a beach of its own. Below the estate lies Abama Beach, a 100-metre cove of imported golden sand; guests ride the resort's private train down to it, a dedicated guest area has complimentary sunbeds and umbrellas, subject to availability, and The Beach Club serves until 6pm.
When the sea is up, the pools take over. The Lagoon and Persian Garden pools open from 9am to 6pm and the Serenity pool, for guests of 13 and over, from 10am to 6pm; all three are heated, with a lifeguard on duty. Retreat guests have four more, the Del Mar infinity pool among them.
The room to book
Retreat Deluxe Room Ocean View
50 m²
It opens the Retreat's four pools, the Del Mar infinity pool among them, and puts the sea in front of the balcony.
A pool holiday with the sea as the view. Each of the 50 villas has its own heated pool; the River Villas open straight onto the 80-metre channel the hotel is named for, and a rooftop infinity pool with a bar looks down the coast towards La Gomera. Adults-only from 14 keeps the water calm, and the house rules do not allow sunbeds to be saved with towels: staff remove them.
The beach is a drive. Playa del Duque is 2.3 kilometres downhill and La Caleta five minutes by car, so a hire car, parked free on site, turns the sea into an easy afternoon out.
The room to book
River Villa, one bedroom
120 m²
Its heated pool opens straight onto the 80-metre river channel, which you will not find anywhere else on the island.
Here the pool is yours alone. All 28 villas come with a heated private pool inside a walled garden and a terrace with sunbeds, a small shared panoramic pool is there if you want company, and brunch can arrive on a floating tray. These are pools for cooling off and lying beside rather than for swimming lengths: the entry Duchess Villa's measures 2.6 by 2.3 metres, while the Gran Majestic has the widest on the property at 5.1 by 4.75. For sand, Playa del Duque and Fañabé are under ten minutes by car, and the private underground garage makes a hire car easy.
The room to book
Gran Duchess Villa
200 m²€655 a night
Still one bedroom for two, but with a longer pool, 4.2 by 2.1 metres, and a Balinese bed for shade between dips.
Two adults who would trade sand for a sea-facing terrace should look at Royal Hideaway Corales Beach, on the shore beside La Caleta: three heated saltwater pools, the top one an infinity pool on the roof, and Playa del Duque along the promenade.
From about €300 a night
The best things to do in Tenerife, hand-picked
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Not in the legal sense. Spain's Ley de Costas says no beach can be for private use, and anyone may walk, sit and swim on any beach free. The Ritz-Carlton Tenerife, Abama comes closest: guests ride its private train down to Abama Beach, a 100-metre sand cove, where a dedicated guest area has complimentary sunbeds and umbrellas, subject to availability. Bahía del Duque faces Playa del Duque, a public Blue Flag beach, across the promenade. Gran Meliá Palacio de Isora has a beach bar on the rocks and black sand across the road. Royal River Luxury Hotel and Royal Garden Villas & Spa give every villa a private pool instead.
Where are the best sandy beaches for a beach holiday in Tenerife?
Costa Adeje, on the south-west coast. One promenade links its sandy, lifeguarded beaches: Playa del Duque, a Blue Flag beach at the quiet end; Fañabé, with lifeguards, sunbeds and jet skis, a 14-minute walk from it; and Torviscas, whose breakwater keeps the water usually calm. It is the dry side of the island too, with about 22 degrees on January afternoons and roughly two wet days a month. Bahía del Duque is the hotel on this list with that sand across the promenade. El Médano, the island's windsurfing and kitesurfing beach, is better as a day out than as a base for a beach week.
How far is the beach from the villa hotels above Costa Adeje?
Royal River Luxury Hotel and Royal Garden Villas & Spa sit on the Golf Costa Adeje hillside above La Caleta, so you see the sea from the terrace and drive down to it. From Royal River Luxury Hotel, Playa del Duque is 2.3 kilometres and La Caleta five minutes by car; Royal Garden Villas & Spa puts Playa del Duque and Fañabé under ten minutes by car. Walking down is easy, walking back up is a real climb, so most guests take a taxi at least one way. Both park guests free, one in a private underground garage.
Which Tenerife beach hotel works without a car?
Bahía del Duque. Playa del Duque is across the promenade, which runs flat for about ten kilometres between Los Cristianos and La Caleta, so Fañabé, Torviscas, the shops and dinner are all on foot. TITSA's line 40 runs from Estación de Costa Adeje to Tenerife South in about 40 minutes. The other four are resorts or villas where a car pays its way: The Ritz-Carlton Tenerife, Abama, Royal Garden Villas & Spa and Royal River Luxury Hotel all park guests free, and Gran Meliá Palacio de Isora has parking on site.
How did you choose these hotels?
Independently, through extensive research, trusted sources and first-hand visits. Hotels cannot pay to be included, and every one of the ten has to exist for a different reason.
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