El Pris Beach and Natural Pool

The water is clear and properly salty, held in a pool on the edge of the open Atlantic, and the evening ends with the sun going down over the sea.

El Pris is a working fishing village, and the pool keeps that plain, lived-in feel: dark rock all round, a bench on the waterfront to leave your clothes, handrails to steady you on the way in. On a calm day it is a quiet swim. When the sea is up, the waves pound the rock and the place turns wild, and it is still worth the stop even with swimming out of the question.

From the pool, a coastal path carries on along the shore to Mesa del Mar.

• The rock at the water's edge is slippery; use the handrails to get in and out.
• Swimming depends on the sea: in stormy weather or a heavy swell the pool is not safe to use.
• Free public toilets stand about 180 m away.
• There is no drinking water nearby, so bring your own.

Two car parks sit close to the pool, about 40 m and 120 m away in a straight line, so the drive ends almost at the shore. The El Pris bus stop is about 60 m from the pool, and a second stop, Telémaco, is about 130 m away.

You can also arrive on foot: the coastal path from Mesa del Mar runs along the shore to El Pris.

Best: late afternoon into sunset, on a day when the sea is calm.

Avoid: stormy days and heavy swell.

The pool faces open ocean and the sunset, but that same exposure means rough seas make swimming unsafe, and Tenerife's north coast takes its heaviest swells in winter.