This week I got this wanderlust craving, to go on a little solo adventure here in Tenerife in the Canary Islands, one to explore somewhere new and just see what I would find! As I looked at a local map, the sound of El Medano tickled my curiosity. I set myself a traveller’s day budget of 100 euros. With a book to read, a beach towel and camera, I set off to the unknown. The same day my husband, his brother Ronny and Patrik, all from Sweden opted to try out a different adventure with the same budget and we would tell eachother what we did later. So, off I went in a taxi from Los Cristianos and arrived to the chosen destination some 20 minutes later.
El Medano is a pretty little town on the island of Tenerife with all the necessary services an urban beach destination requires. Located near the largest natural beaches, the Playa Grande and the Playa Tejita. Between the beaches is La Montaña Roja, a volcanic cone that is a protected natural reserve.
The taxi dropped me off right in front of the town square, opposite the main beach where there was a vegetable and jewellery market. Around this square, I immediately saw many bars and restaurants offering coffee, Spanish tapas or sea food, Chinese food, crepes, burgers and ice creams; Lots of locals and travellers were there relaxing so I felt excited knowing that it is a buzzing place and I would not get bored here! In the summer months, this place, like our Maltese villages, it holds local fiestas and a spectacular annual public firework display across the bay and I saw that some people were preparing a stage and some chairs for entertainment that evening.
El Medano is a Windsurfers’ Paradise
A place of strong winds, it has been the site for various windsurfing competitions and championships. I asked local surfers and I discovered that El Médano is known as one of the world’s best windsurfing/kitesurfing locations, with three different windsurfing spots, the Bay (flat/swell), the Harbour Wall (wavespot sideshore), and Cabezo Beach (wavespot onshore). The main bay is divided into three areas, the general sailing area with very good entry and exit points, the swimming area, marked by a chain of buoys and the pigs bay, which is to be avoided because of security reasons.
The promenade has a wooden floor that goes all along the beach up to “kite” beach and through the “medanos”, the rocky dunes that are a result of the erosion caused by wind and sea. The floor was very cosy and made it very comfortable for me walking along in my white Michael Kors wedges and I thought that it would be very comfortable for prams and people with wheel chairs too.
Lunch at Playa Chica
After enjoying the wind surfers’ paradise area, I thought of exploring the other side of El Medano beach to see what was there. I passed through some narrow streets with restaurants and little clothes and accessory shops and arrived to another area where I spotted an attractive spot to have lunch. This restaurant called Playa Chica was literally sitting perched as close to the beach as you can imagine and since there was one table free, hola! I grabbed it and ordered a platter of fried local fish of the day, a glass of rose’ wine and a small bottle of still water Oh yes! This is what travelling is all about! The fresh breeze was keeping me cool in the warm summer sun, not a worry in the world. These moments of blissful relaxation, gratititude for coming across these destinations, getting lost in the moment are worth living for!
Featured heart pendant by Virag Andersson Jewellery
The food at Playa Chica was really tasty, that kind of seafood you eat in a fisherman’s home, fried to perfection a mix of calamari, squid and fresh fish of the day served with a variety of Spanish dips including mojo and a spicy mayonnaise. The service was quick too, not that I was in any hurry! I read a chapter of my book in between the delightful bites of this huge platter, I took some travel pictures to share with you and my followers on Instagram. When one, the bill received amounted to only €20.32. I thanked the waiter and went for a stroll along the other side of the walkway till I came across a few monuments on the way and some more spots where people were watching surfers and taking photos of this pretty beach.
I then stopped on a beach and for €4 rented out a sunbed, relaxed here and read another chapter of my book until it was time to return to Los Cristianos to regroup with the family!
When I did meet with the boys again, I learnt that while I was here in El Medano fishing and surfing village, they went out on a deep sea fishing trip! My husband is not the fishing type but he said he really enjoyed the experience and was so happy that he caught a lot of huge fish and had a great time too here on Tenerife with the boys! That’s awesome. Everyone was happy and we then caught some rest before going out to the swings and grab some ice cream with baby Luna and her lovely grandmother Marja!
Total money I spent:
Taxis: €27 each way, Lunch €22 with tips, Sunbed €4, another bottle of water €2 = €82
Total money spent: €65 each (the tour included lunch and drinks)
Stay tuned for more travel and fashion threads from Tenerife island at www.graziellecamilleri.com
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