Las Canteras Beach

Swim out from Playa Grande and the water stays calm all the way to La Barra, a sandstone reef about 200 m offshore that runs for roughly 2 km along the beach. It works like a natural breakwater: the Atlantic swell spends itself on the outer face, and the bay inside stays sheltered. At low tide the reef surfaces and gulls stand along it.

Bring a mask. Inside the reef the water is about 2 m deep on average and 5 m at most at low tide, with parrotfish, ornate wrasse and canary damsels over rock and sand.

The beach changes along its length. Playa Grande in the north is the calm end, Playa Chica in the middle the rockiest, and La Cícer in the south has no reef in front and belongs to the surfers. Behind it all, the Paseo de Las Canteras promenade lines the sand with cafés and shops.

• Lifeguards are not always on duty, so do not count on someone watching the water.
• The sand fills up from Friday to Sunday; midweek gives you more room.
• Free toilets and showers stand along the beach for rinsing off after a swim.
• Low tide reshapes the beach: La Barra and the rocks near the shore break the surface. Check the tide table before you snorkel or swim out.
• The open sand has no shade at midday; bring a hat, or retreat to the cafés on the promenade.

Las Canteras Beach lies inside the city, along the western shore of the Guanarteme isthmus, with the Santa Catalina neighbourhood behind it. Whatever you arrive in, the last stretch is on foot along the Paseo de Las Canteras, a paved pedestrian promenade running from the Alfredo Kraus Auditorium at the south-western end to La Puntilla in the north. Several of the streets leading down to it are pedestrianised as well. The Tomás Miller bus stop is about 150 m away, and the paid Padre Cueto public car park about 170 m.

Best: a weekday at low tide for snorkelling and the rock pools, or late afternoon for the light.

Avoid: Friday to Sunday if you want room on the sand.

The beach faces northwest, so the evening sun falls straight onto it and sets over the sea, though a bank of cloud often sits on the horizon and on clear evenings Tenerife shows across the water.