Garachico Beach

The water is what you remember: clear over a floor of black pebbles and dark sand, with small crabs working the rocks along the sides of the bay. The pebbles make it an awkward place to spend a whole day stretched out on a towel, and that keeps the beach uncrowded. It suits a swim fitted into a day in Garachico. The town's streets and restaurants are around the bay, so you can walk down from lunch, get in the water and be back in the shade of the old town within the hour.

• The shore is pebbles and rock with only some sand; water shoes make getting in easier, and a mat is kinder than a towel.
• The sun leaves the beach around 5 pm, and after that the water feels too cold for a swim.
• The bay is sheltered on calm days, but the waves can build strongly — look at the sea before you go in.
• Free public toilets stand about 420 m away; there is no drinking water point nearby, so bring your own.
• A children's playground sits next to the beach.

Most people arrive by car. Two car parks lie about 120 m and 150 m from the beach, one of them on gravel, and more parking lines the streets leading down to the shore. The car park sits above the beach, and from the street a path drops to the pebbles. By bus, get off at La Cooperativa, about 210 m away, and walk down through the streets. Information boards stand near the beach on the way in.

Best: late morning to mid-afternoon on a calm day.

Avoid: late afternoon, and days when a big swell is running.

The sun leaves the beach around 5 pm and the water turns too cold for most swimmers, while on an open north-facing coast a heavy swell, most often in winter, turns the bay rough.