El Caletón Natural Pools

Black lava arms break the Atlantic into a string of pools. On a calm day you swim in seawater held still by the rock while the swell smashes white against its outer edge.

The rock itself is the story. In 1706 lava from the Trevejo volcano poured down into Garachico, buried the town's harbour and froze into jagged shapes where it hit the ocean. The sea has filled the gaps ever since. The pools are not all alike: some are shallower and calmer, and those are the ones families with young children use.

Even when the pools are shut for heavy seas, the stop pays off. Waves pile over the dark volcanic rock and spill back through the channels, and the noise carries up to the road.

• The pools close to swimmers when the swell is heavy. Look at the sea before you plan the day around a swim.
• The lava is sharp and uneven underfoot. Bring water shoes.
• The pools get very crowded, and the water in some of them can turn murky. Come early.
• There are public toilets about 130 m away, but no drinking-water point nearby, so bring your own.

El Caletón sits right on Garachico's seafront road, and whichever way you come, the walk at the end is brief.

By car, the nearest car park is about 240 m away in a straight line, and there is parking along the street as well. By bus, the La Cooperativa stop is about 140 m from the pools. Public toilets stand about 130 m away.

An information board about El Caletón stands close to the water, and a second board, for the PR-TF 43 footpath, is about 190 m away.

Best: early in the day, on a calm sea.

Avoid: days of heavy swell, and the middle of the day in summer.

The pools shut whenever the waves run high, and this north-west-facing shore takes the Atlantic swell hardest in winter; in summer the crowd builds as the day goes on, and bare lava gives no shade at midday.