Rope climbing in Tenerife

Our first ever proper (more than a weekend long) rope climbing holiday brought us to the beautiful island of Tenerife.

Where we stayed

We rented a camper van on AirBnB which was great to stay close to the next crag we wanted to visit. We basically stayed where we climbed. After arrival we stade at the camping/parking lot in Aparcamiento Playa de La Tejita. The next says we often camped at parking lots close to Faro de Punta de Abona.

Where we climbed

Arico

Arico is a huge gorge with a huge amount of awesome climbing routes. Starting from the parking lot, one can go up or down the gorge going to Arico Arriba or Arico Abajo, respectively. The area is beautiful and one can always find a small cove within the tall grass just for themselves.

El Capricho

is a climbing area close to Mount Teide already high up on the plateau at around 2000m altitude. The climbing there was almost as amazing as the view.

Arico

Bouldering in El Poris

We rented some crashpads from the local climbing house and went boulding in El Poris. We visited the cave called Cueva de Arriva. Hiking further one passes by the block Westfalia, with a banger line on it - must do! After another 30 min of steep hiking we arrived at the end of the area, with a bunch of more blocks. With not a lot of time left, we climbed only on Caos Callejon.

Cueva de Arriva

El Poris

Fantasma

as, compared to Arico, a smaller sector, also within a gorge. It is not as beautiful as Arico, but the climbing is still great. The routes are a bit shorter and the rock felt a bit more polished.

Fantasma and Teide (seen from the top of a route in El Carpicho)

Hiking up Mount Teide

We hiked up Mount Teide, the highest mountain in Spain. In order to start the hike early we slept in our camper van on a camping site close to the cable car station. We started close the cable car station and hiked up the trail. It took us around 5 hours to get to the top station of the cable car. From there its another 30 minutes to the top of the mountain. One needs a permit, which we obtained online. The hike was amazing, the view was great and the weather was perfect. To get down we took the cable car.

Top of Mount Teide

Santa Cruz de Tenerife

We spent a rest day in the capital of Tenerife, Santa Cruz. We visited the Auditorio de Tenerife and walked around the harbor and city center. The city is beautiful and the architecture is amazing. On that day a fair was going on, people were dressed up and a lot of food was sold. We went on a ride in a haunted house, ate a lot and had a great time.

Auditorio de Tenerife

Oil rig in the harbor of Santa Cruz de Tenerife

What we ate

We cooked a lot in our camper van, but also went out to eat. The best food we got at a restaurant close to our very first camping site. However, it took us until the very last day to align with the opening hours of Samelo Veg so we could enjoy their amazing vegan food and cakes.

Food at Samelo Veg