Is Playa Las Teresitas Tenerife’s Perfect Beach?
Exotic. That’s the word that springs to mind as I put a frosty bottle of Dorada to my lips and survey the surroundings. In 30 plus degrees heat the cerveza is the only cool thing in the vicinity”¦ excluding the three beautiful strangers with sickeningly good beach fashion sense lying next to me.
The palm trees lining the back of Las Teresitas waft in the light breeze making a sound which sounds like a sigh. I take a sip of my beer and involuntary make a similar noise. In front, soft golden sand spreads in a perfect crescent, merging with water tinted a vibrant aquamarine. If this was a photograph, I’d swear someone had worked some Photoshop magic on it.
A lumbering tanker shimmering on the horizon adds to the sensation of being on foreign shores in a far flung land. To complete the assault on the senses, the aroma of grilled sardines and calamari from the beach bar joins in with the mugging. I’m pretty sure the beautiful strangers can hear my stomach rumble in response. It’s a totally tropical setting apart from one thing”¦ Michael Jackson’s “˜Thriller’ and other assorted 1980s hits belt out from the bar.
I finish my beer and plod to the water’s edge where tiny tropical fish dart amongst the feet of fellow paddlers. A man-made breakwater calms the lagoon and people float lazily in the warm, still waters while tiny fishing boats bob gently in the seductively sparkling sea.
The whitewashed fishermen’s cottages of San Andrés cling to the steep hillside on one side of Playa de Las Teresitas while the soaring Anaga Mountains add a heady dose of drama to the pretty backdrop.
Although most people indulge in traditional beach activities others are treating it as an open-air gym. Despite the heat, some masochistic souls jog along the water’s edge while others perform sweat-inducing callisthenics on the sand. Halfway along the beach a topless girl is doing “˜sit ups’. It’s a sight bordering on the bizarre.
Just when I’m convinced that Las Teresitas is the perfect beach, a gust of wind rushes across the sand creating a mini sandstorm. In seconds the hereto friendly grains have turned nasty, sandblasting exposed flesh. I’ve just discovered paradise’s one little flaw.
I head back up to the beach bar trying to rub rogue grains of sand from my eyes. A-Ha are singing ‘the Sun Always Shines on TV’. Maybe it does; however if you swapped “˜Playa de Las Teresitas’ for “˜TV’, that wouldn’t be far off the mark either.
Playa de Las Teresitas lies 8 kilometres outside Santa Cruz. The 910 bus service runs every 5 to 10 minutes from Santa Cruz to the beach. Las Teresitas has sun loungers, changing cubicles, toilets and plenty of parking spaces.
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