Things To Do in Playa de las Americas

DJ David Guetta set the bar when he headlined the first Arona Summer Festival in Playa de las Americas in 2011. And the standard is staying high with the likes of Sean Paul and Sigma. You can also catch lots of local bands at this annual 12-hour festival at the resort’s Antonio Dominguez Olympic Stadium.

The great thing about the beaches here is that they’re walkable from the resort centre – but if you do need a lift, a mini-train links all 6 of them. So it’s easy to switch between the dark sands of Playa de Troya and the manmade golden stretches in the Fañabe area. Wherever you go, you’ll find plenty of watersports to try out.

Leonardo’s is a lively bar near the Starco shopping centre. Plenty of TV screens mean you can keep up-to-date with all the sporting fixtures, or you can sit outside to do some people-watching over a cold beer. There’s always live entertainment, too – the popular Wild Boys do a great retro set of Sixties and Seventies hits.

The duty-free shopping in Playa de las Americas is a nice little incentive to head for CC Safari Centre, the resort’s upscale shopping mall. There’s plenty of opportunity to pick up perfume here between browsing the rails for Spanish high street names and designer labels. And you’ve got ’til 11pm to stock up.

This restaurant – about 5 minutes from the resort – comes with a really pretty garden terrace that’s all terracotta pots and bougainvillea. The food is equally well presented, with dishes including rabbit, roast suckling pig and red peppers stuffed with codfish. There’s also live music – think Nat King Cole ballads – and a chef who sings opera. Booking is advised.

Playa de las Americas takes a crowd-pleasing approach to its cuisine, so you can expect plenty of restaurants serving up British favourites as well as Chinese and Italian food. You can find something a little more authentic, though, in the Torviscas area in the west of the resort. Here, it’s all about paella, bean stew and tapas.

The Mett Bar attracts an up-for-it crowd who come for the fish-bowl cocktails – that’s 3 litres’ worth – and the party atmosphere. You can chill out on the lantern-lit terrace between stints on the dancefloor where Nineties club classics, funk and R’n’B keep everyone moving. By the time things wrap at 4am, you’ll be dancing on your chair along with everyone else.

A night out in Playa de las Americas is a bit of a 2-parter. You might want to start off at the Starco Centre, which really packs in the bars. Later you can head over the road to Veronicas strip – which is actually a line-up of 4 shopping centres – where most of the resort’s clubs take over ’til chucking out time at around 6am.

Food-wise, Playa de las Americas plays to the Brit crowd. If you fancy trying some authentic Canarian food, though, head for the Spanish tapas restaurants in Torviscas, on the western side of the resort. Here you can tuck into paella, bean stew and garlicky mojo potatoes. It’s quite upscale round here, though, so it’s best to change out of your beachwear before dinner.

This Thai-themed waterpark is only 10 minutes – or a shuttle bus – away from the resort centre. It comes with some great white-knuckle rides, like The Tower of Power and the Mekong Rapids, but there’s also a purpose-built beach with free sunloungers and a floating market – not to mention some friendly sealions to meet as well.

The Tower of Power, Dragon and Mekong Rapids – they’re just 3 of the white-knuckle rides at this huge Thai-themed waterpark. Between slides, you can check out the sealions, shop at the floating market or just take a breather at one of the restaurants. To get here it’s about 10 minutes’ walk – or you can jump on the regular shuttle bus.

Tenerife is a tax-free zone – and one of the best places to take advantage of the discount shopping is at Playa de las Americas’ classy CC Safari Centre. Here, designer boutiques line up with high street names so you can stock up on duty-free perfume, Diesel jeans and leather shoes. It closes for siesta between 3pm and 5pm, then opens its doors again ’til 11pm.

Over at Los Cristianos, it’s carnival time in March. The main event is the Carnival Queen competition, backed up by processions, fireworks and a late-night music festival. It also comes with a good old-fashioned fairground with dodgems and a ghost train. And to finish it all off, there’s the traditional Burial of the Sardine.

This restaurant overlooking Playa del Bobo beach gets gold stars for its sea view, friendly staff and good-value food. On the menu, you’ve got crowd-pleasing pizzas and steaks, along with a mixed fish grill that comes highly recommended. If you’re having crêpes, they’ll be whipped up at your table. And it all comes with an acoustic guitarist serenading your meal.

This place really does like to party. The Patch has more of a family vibe, with cabaret, karaoke and live music. Then over at the Starco Centre you’ve got back-to-back clubs that stay open ’til around 4am. There are clubs here, too, but you’ll find the lion’s share just over the road on Veronicas strip – they keep going ’til 6am.