Playa de las Teresitas
Best for. Families and gentle swimmers who want the calmest, warmest water near Santa Cruz, plus anyone resting between sessions on the wild coast.
Best spot. The shaded palm side toward San Andres, calmest and closest to the kiosks, reached early before the weekend fills the sand and the car park.
Know this. The breakwater removes the swell entirely, so there is no surf here. This is the calm beach, not the wild one.
Las Teresitas is the gentlest beach in Tenerife, and it is gentle on purpose. In the 1970s the planners trucked in pale golden sand from the Sahara and threw a long breakwater across the bay, turning a rough volcanic shore into a flat, shallow, almost lagoon like swim below the white village of San Andres. The result is the calmest, most photogenic stretch of sand near Santa Cruz, and the easiest place in the north to take young children into the water.
For an active traveller, the honest framing is this: Las Teresitas is the rest day beach, not the session beach. There is no surf and no real swell because the breakwater takes it all away, so leave the board in the car. What you get instead is warm, clear, reliably calm water, a row of palms for shade and a string of kiosks for a long lazy lunch. It is the perfect place to recover a tired body the day after Benijo or a windy session at El Medano.
The catch is the crowd. This is the local beach for Santa Cruz, so on a sunny weekend or a public holiday the sand and the free car park fill fast, and the atmosphere swings from serene to packed. Come on a weekday morning and you can have the palms and the flat water almost to yourself. Arrive late on a Saturday and you will be circling for parking and laying your towel in the overflow.
The water is calmest and shallowest toward the San Andres end, near the shade and the kiosks, which is where families gather. Walk along the sand away from the village and it thins out and the breeze picks up a little. The breakwater keeps the bay safe, but it also means the water can feel still and warm rather than fresh, so swimmers who like a bit of movement may find it tame.
Who should skip it. If you came to Tenerife for wild coast, black sand and waves, this engineered calm will feel like a resort pool. The genuinely wild alternative is close by, over the headland at Las Gaviotas, a dark sand beach with real swell, and further out at Benijo in the Anaga hills. But for a calm swim and an easy lunch in the sun, Las Teresitas is the honest pick.
Clubs on this beach
Las Teresitas is a public local beach with kiosks and chiringuitos rather than a daybed club, so for a lounger and table service day we route you to the southern beach clubs of Tenerife.
No beach club on this beach
This is public sand with simple kiosks and chiringuitos rather than a daybed club. For a club style day with loungers, pools and table service, the scene lives on the south coast, and we gather every option in the Tenerife beach clubs directory.
San Andres, north east coast
Las Teresitas sits beside the fishing village of San Andres, about ten minutes by car north east of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and an easy add on to a day in the Anaga hills.
There is free parking that fills early on warm days, and regular buses run from the Santa Cruz interchange, so an early start saves both a space and the shade.
Facilities are good, with palm shade, showers, toilets and kiosks along the back of the sand. The water is calmest toward the village end, and San Andres itself is the place for fresh fish after a swim.
Photo: P C via GoogleBook a beach club
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Common questions about Playa de las Teresitas
Is Playa de las Teresitas good for swimming?
Yes, it is one of the calmest swims in Tenerife. A long offshore breakwater shields the bay, so the water stays flat, shallow and clear with almost no waves, which makes it ideal for families and gentle swimmers. It is the opposite of the wild northern beaches and the safest easy swim near Santa Cruz.
Is the sand at Las Teresitas real?
The sand is real but it was imported. The beach was created in the 1970s using pale golden sand brought in from the Sahara and held in place by a breakwater, which is why it looks so different from the black volcanic beaches around it. The result is a genuine sandy beach, just an engineered one rather than a natural shore.
When is the best time to visit Playa de las Teresitas?
A weekday morning is the sweet spot, before the locals from Santa Cruz arrive and fill the sand and the car park at weekends. The beach is calm and warm year round, but early arrivals get the palm shade, the parking and the quietest water. Weekends and public holidays are the busiest by far.
Is there surf at Las Teresitas?
No, and that is the point. The breakwater removes almost all the swell, so there are no waves to surf here. For surf and wind you head elsewhere, to the wild Anaga beaches like Benijo for waves or to El Medano and La Tejita for windsurf and kitesurf. Las Teresitas is the place to rest and swim between sessions, not to ride.
How do you get to Playa de las Teresitas?
It sits beside the village of San Andres, about ten minutes by car north east of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. There is free parking that fills early on warm days, and regular buses run from the Santa Cruz interchange. A hire car makes it easy to combine with the Anaga hills and the wild beaches further along the coast.
