Puerto de la Cruz Holiday Resort in Tenerife

Puerto de la Cruz Situated along Tenerife's fascinating northern coastline within the Orotava Valley and at the foot of Mount Teide.

About Puerto de la Cruz

Puerto de la Cruz's natural environs - rolling hills, natural parks and banana plantations - provide the stunning backdrop to this unique urban gem. Its 37 km west of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and 25 km from Tenerife’s North Airport (TFN) along the TF5 Motorway. Its Tenerife’s main tourist resort in the north of the island which, although it welcomes hundreds of thousands of visitors a year, remains resolutely Canarian in character.

Puerto de la Cruz has a reputation as a sophisticated holiday destination and its many fine restaurants, its stylish garden beach, its elegant plazas and streets and its upmarket shopping make it a favourite with Spanish mainlanders throughout the summer months and with Northern Europeans who over-winter in its mild climate.

The port of Puerto de la Cruz, together with that of Garachico, were the two main ports of the island. The port was principally used for the export of wine and as a fishing port. The local fisherman still use the harbour. Garachico lost its port, and most of the town during a volcanic eruption. The main shipping port for the island is now Santa Cruz, a main port of call for ocean liners.

Attrations in Puerto de la Cruz

Loro Park

Loro Park is situated on the outskirts of the resort of Puerto da La Cruz and is home to the largest parrot collection in the world, as well as the biggest dolphinarium in Europe. The park also offers an aquarium, chimpanzees, gorillas, jaguars, tigers, alligators, tortoises, a penguin island and the 'Orca Ocean' featuring four killer whales. Throughout the day visitors can enjoy parrot, dolphin and sea lion shows and the park has a number of pizzerias, restaurants and shops. For more information and opening times please visit Loro Park Page

Jardin botanico (Botanic Garden)

Gardens on the outskirts of Puerto de la Cruz are an area of beautiful tranquillity, where you can sit and enjoy many hundreds of wonderful plants and flowers. Opened in 1972, these gardens exhibit thousands of species from all over the world, which grow very happily in the microclimate created here.

Lago martianez (Martianez Lake)

The Lago de Martianez is a great place to spend a hot day in Puerto de la Cruz. The Lago Martianez is a large complex of attractively shaped swimming pools of natural salt water, there are about 8, including kids pools and a spa treatment pool for over 18's only.

There are waterfalls, caves to swim through and a giant fountain spurting water out to an incredible height and into a huge swimming area. The water is warm, and is seawater, filled via the sea (which is just over the wall) as the level raises and falls with the tide. It is all extremely clean, and you can hire sunbeds and sunshades for a little extra cost (and there are plenty). There are places to buy meals, and icecreams, and a bar, which is on an island in the middle of another large pool, made to look like a ship. There are pool showers to wash off the salt water, and shady spots to get out of the midday sun, it is beautifully landscaped, and there are sculptures throughout the grounds. It is right on the sea front in the newer part of Puerto de la Cruz.

Museo Arqueológico (Archaeological Museum)

The Archaeological Museum in Puerto de la Cruz contains a number of interesting displays about the Guanche people. These include their pottery and information on mummification, a religious practice of the Guanches. You can also see early maps, farming equipment, weapons and jewellery. The museum is housed in a 19th Century building in a picturesque area near the old fishing harbour. The museum also has temporary exhibitions.

Parque Taoro (Taoro Park)

In the centre of Puerto de la Cruz is a promontory – in olden days called Misery Mount, as it is a volcanic badland – from where one gets the best view of the whole town. This green lung is the Taoro Park which in other times was a residential area for Puerto’s select foreign community. Now a public park, it covers almost 100,000 sq metres, divided into three different sections: los Jardines de La Atalaya, (Vantage Point Gardens), los Jardines del Taoro (Taoro Gardens) and Camino de la Sortija (Hoop Road). Camino de la Sortija is where the British community used to run horse races , the aim being to catch a hoop on the lance. La Atalaya, the best-tended and most luxuriant part of the park, is criss-crossed by pleasant paths and stairways which meander between springs and waterfalls. At the top of the hill , dominating the whole town is the hundred-year old building which was the first great hotel built in Spain, the Taoro Gran Hotel, until recently a luxury gambling casino. The Anglican Church is in the middle of the park. Due to the lack of special facilities, the Taoro gardens have lately become an athletics ground where a lot of sports enthusiasts come to jog or train. The park still retains valuable remains of the volcanic badland and is being refurbished by the Council.

Beaches in Puerto de la Cruz

Playa Jardin (Jardin Beach)

The beach of Playa Jardin was transformed in the 1990s from a rocky bay into an attractive beach garden. It is the work of artist Cesar Manrique who created the Lago Martianez (Martianez Lake). Sand was brought in to cover the sheltered beach. Concrete wave breakers, hidden under the sea, were placed so as to break up the power of the waves. At the back of the beach are gardens with palms and flowering plants. The Playa Jardin is now a popular, award winning beach.

Playa Martiánez (Martiánez Beach)

The black sand beach Playa Martiánez, which is overlooked by cliffs with caves where the ancient Guanche people once lived. The cliffs have been built on top of and now house many streets and the Plaza Mirador de la Paz but the caves serve as a reminder of what was once here.

Shopping in Puerto de la Cruz

The town is a shoppers paradise. A very large variety of goods are available from many hundreds of shops, often at good prices. Especially cheap are electronic items of every description, photographic gear, perfumes and alcohol.

Alcampo La Villa (Alcampo Shopping Center)

For a real shopping treat, take a 10 minute taxi ride to the La Villa Centro Comercial on the border with La Orotava where you’ll find the AlCampo hypermarket and a brilliant selection of fashion, shoe, jewellery, lingerie and sports wear from designer outlets at a third cheaper than in the UK and from stylish Spanish outlets like Zara and Stradivarius.

Leroy Merlin

For all things green and horticultural, Leroy Merlin is a notable garden centre where a range of colourful plants and exotic flowers can be found.

Location:
La Orotava
Centro Comercial La Villa (Shopping centre La Villa)
North Motorway TF5 Exit 36 La Vera. 38300 La Orotava
Tel: 0034 922 329 800 Fax: 0034 922 329 838
Website: http://www.leroymerlin.es