La Caleta

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La Caleta:

A little bit away from the tourist path there is one of the few typical canarian towns left. Untouched by the tourist hordes because if they come in this area, they head for other highligts, this place is quiet and real. People live mostly from the plantages inthis area or drive to Santa Cruz for work. The town is situated on a vast lava filed that covers the are from the steep dropping mountains in the back and the pounding seas of the north shore. Town has some bars and shops so it satisfies the basic needs of travelers and locals alike.

The coast in this area is all fairly young and therefore fairly sharp lava. Access to the water is a real hazard along this coast so You´ll be happy to find out, that there is some sand and round stones covering the lava at this town. To make it even more comfortable entering the water there is a nice channel that provides a fairly long but dry head paddle to the outside reefs.

surfing: west of the channel breaks a left which is better with bigger waves. On low tide it´s very shallow and more of a bodyboarder wave. East of the channel, in front of the braking walls of the plantage is a nice reef that gives good rights and nice lefts. Waves have some juice here when north atlantic swells meet canarian reefs. So even when this place is one of the less heavy spots at the north coast, You still should have some experience when You go out here.

When I surfed here there were never more than 10 people out. Locals were very cool. One of them even asked me if I would paddle out with him beacause he preferd to have company at the reef. So if You come alone or in small numbers, get up early in the morning and respect the rules and locals in and out of the water, You´ll have a nice time here despite the heavy reputation that Tenerife locals have.

If You walk past the plantage direction east You´ll find some more peaks that work good but are a little more difficult to access.

windsurfing: with the right wind direction - northeast should be good - this place can be sailed. It will be pretty hard to get out of the bay and there is some surprises in front of the reef but when You´re good enough You might have a hell of a time wavesailing this place.

kitesurfing: hmm, very hard, but it might work in summer with smaller waves

More pics about the coast and the surf in the galleries. Basic info at the info board.