Los Gigantes

 In Puerto Santiago you'll find a small fishing port but limited in terms of Beaches. There is a top, middle and bottom part to the town, making the area rather sprawling, a mixture of homes, hotels and apartments. As you would expect from a tourist resort, there is a huge assortment or bars, shops, restaurants, a post office, and nightlife mainly in Santiago bajo. As there are a large number of locals resident in the area you'll find some excellent Canarian food available in the traditional restaurants and Tapas bars. The annual firework display is not to be missed

Playa de la Arena

If approaching from the south, the first of the three resorts you will encounter will be the unimaginatively named Playa de la Arena (or in English ..... Sandy Beach!). Playa de la Arena does boast the finest beach in this region - it has been awarded the European blue flag for many years in succession. Although smallish, it can confidently stand comparison with any other beach of similar size on the island. This is especially true when you consider that while many of Tenerife's popular beaches are man-made using imported sand, the beach here is natural. Its black sand is a constant reminder of the island's powerful volcanic origins. The beach is situated centrally along the main coastal thoroughfare, the Avenida Maritima, which has relatively easy (and free) parking facilities. If you get hungry or develop a thirst you will find yourself spoilt for choice by the many bars, restaurants and shops adjacent to and opposite the beach.

 Playa de la Arena beach offers a gentle gradient and often calm waters. Don't forget though that as we are a small island and out in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, we are sometimes subject to rough seas, especially in the winter months. On the occasions when weather conditions prohibit bathing, a red flag flies on the beach. Don't ignore it!

 The resort itself is somewhat elongated, being built up in a thin strip along the length of the Avenida Maritima (coast road), which cuts through the resort. It runs more or less parallel to the sea front for a couple of miles, with the beach at its heart. Here you'll also find the beachfront promenade where you can have a stroll in the sunshine. Playa de la Arena is very much a modern resort and as such you will find some contsruction ongoing. There are new apartments and hotels in progress and you will notice constant 'cosmetic' work being carried out, such as planting of decorative palms. But the degree of ongoing building work is not likely to detract from the atmosphere of the resort or your overall enjoyment thereof.

 For a relatively small resort, Playa de la Arena boasts a mind-boggling array of bars and restaurants of all shapes and sizes, although 'nightlife' in the sense of clubs and discos, while it undoubtedly exists, is on a much smaller scale than the larger resorts in the south.
Playa de la Arena is also home to a Tourist Information office. Here you will find English-speaking staff who can give you on-the-spot help and information

 plus there is always a multitude of leaflets and pamphlets freely available, which will give you further facts and figures about the region.