Tenerife is the largest of the seven Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, off North Africa.
Tenerife is the largest of the Spanish islands located off the west coast of Africa, the Canary Islands.
The island is dominated by Spain’s highest peak: Mount Teide, a dormant volcano. It is perhaps best known for the Carnaval de Santa Cruz, which is held before Lent and features parades, music, dancing and colorful costumes.
The island also offers numerous beaches of golden or black sand, and resorts such as Los Cristianos and Playa de las Américas.
The area known as Costa Adeje has many facilities and leisure opportunities such as shopping centres, golf courses, restaurants, water parks (the most well-known being Siam Park), animal parks, and a theatre suitable for musicals or a convention centre.
There are many boats offering whale watching tours from the harbour of Puerto Colon. The deep waters off the coast of Costa Adeje are home to several pods of pilot whales.
In the more lush and green north of the island, the main focus of development for tourism has been in the town of Puerto de la Cruz.
Puerto de la Cruz is home to the SeaWorld-owned zoo, Loro Parque, which has been accused of mistreatment of animals in its captivity, including orcas and is currently boycotted by major travel agents including TUI Group (Thomson) and Thomas Cook.
