Things To Do in Puerto de Santiago

Everyone’s welcome at this busy US memorabilia-lined music bar where the friendly staff bring your drinks to you and even remember your order from the night before. There’s a happy hour before 9pm then the famous Old Dogs, New Tricks duo take the floor for some classic singalong belters.

Puerto de Santiago has a handful of small shops, supermarkets and souvenir shops supplying all you’ll need for the beach. If you fancy something more authentically Canarian, Alcala – 10 minutes’ drive away – has a Monday morning market in the town square. Here, you can pick up fresh local produce for a picnic.

Puerta de Santiago celebrates its saint’s day, Our Lady of Carmen, on the 16th of July every year. On the nearest Saturday to this date, the singing and dancing in the streets is almost as loud as the fireworks that burst into the ink-black night sky.

Puerto de Santiago’s handkerchief-sized beach is a family favourite. Young children can safely splash in the shallow water, while grown-ups can laze around in the sun. Pop across to the Blue Flag-winning Playa la Arena for more of the same, but bigger.

A trip to Tenerife’s neighbour will take you to an island of undisturbed mountains, deep gorges and laurel forests so still you can hear a pin drop – this is the Canaries at its most unspoilt. The hour-long ferry journey leaves from Los Cristianos, 30 minutes’ drive from Puerto de Santiago.

Nightlife-wise, north-western Tenerife’s a million miles from the thumping 24-hour party down south. Things are much more low-key here. Along Puerto Santiago’s waterside, there are some Irish pubs plus a couple of live rock venues. A 5-minute taxi takes you to Los Gigantes, where the main street, Avenida Jose Gonzalez Forte, has got some livelier bars. Try the black magic cocktail – a Tenerife speciality that’s a mix of rum, vodka and peach schnapps.

Extrovert owner Carlos and his chubby cat welcome you to this terrace fish restaurant perched on Puerto de Santiago’s harbour. Watch the sun set with a massive jug of sangria and a plate of halibut with mussels or the signature fish chowder. Carlos rounds off your meal with a complimentary glass of honey rum as you count out your euros – he doesn’t take plastic.

Between Puerto de Santiago, Playa de la Arena and Los Gigantes, you definitely won’t go hungry. Spanish staples like tapas and paella are everywhere, but do try the famous Canarian papas arrugadas – potatoes cooked with salt until wrinkly – which are served with a green or red spicy mojo sauce. Other local specialities are the lapas, or limpets, and the couscous-style gofio.

You’ll see dolphins and pilot whales off the coast of Puerto de Santiago. There’s a 3-hour boat excursion to find the resident dolphin schools. As well as seeing marine life, you can dive and swim off the boat and enjoy a paella lunch before heading back along the craggy volcanic coastline to Los Gigantes’s marina.

Puerto de Santiago is only half an hour north of the all-night bars and restaurants at Playa de las Americas but its nightlife couldn’t be more different. There’s a sprinkling of sports bars, and live bands pack the audiences in nightly at Route 66. But don’t be surprised if the low-key bars and restaurants hang up the closed sign before midnight.