Costa Adeje has roughly seven kilometres of coastline with seven beaches. Bordered by a palm-fringed promenade lined with restaurants, bars, upmarket hotels and designer boutiques; the glitz feels far removed from the British ‘pie and pint pubs’ and gaudy souvenir shops that once characterised large swathes of Playa de Las Americas.
Costa Adeje is very much the face of a new, progressive Tenerife. In efforts to combat its reputation for cheap package holidays garnered over the 1980s, the Tenerife government has invested millions in developing the southern coastline.
Deciding where to stay in Costa Adeje depends very much on which beach you would like to align yourself with. On the southern coast, Playa del Duque is a beautiful beach with white sands and azure water. With an upmarket shopping centre and massages available on the beach, prices reflect this exclusivity. Playa la Pinta is another popular beach and the numbers in high-season can make it a little claustrophobic. But with a gentle sandy beach perfect for kids and with good facilities, the attraction is still apparent. Playa Fañabe & Torviscas stretches across two resorts and is known by the alluring name of ‘the golden beach’. Pristine water, sandy beaches and good access make this popular with some of Costa Adeje older visitors.
Beyond exploring Costa Adeje’s perfect beaches, the shopping, food and golf are other key attractions for holidaymakers. Playa Del Duque shopping centre is home to a multitude of designer boutiques and the twice-weekly flea market opposite Costa Adeje Gran Hotel attracts throngs of bargain hunters. The marina is another source of interest and here you can admire the yachts in the harbour, or even go on a cruise to see whales and dolphins. Golf Costa Adeje is a wonderful 27-hole golf course located near to the fishing village of La Caleta. For anyone with kids, Siam Park is a curious attraction. It is billed as the largest waterpark in Europe and the Thai-theme runs throughout.
The redevelopment of this part of Tenerife has seen the food options expand greatly. While fast food is still available, there are now numerous fine dining establishments offering menus influenced by different corners of the globe. Two fine restaurants in Costa Adeje are Monte Christo and Coeur de Filet. Monte Cristo is a popular Italian restaurant located just off the Playa Fañabé. Specialising in classic Italian fare the antipasti, pasta and meat dishes are all very popular. The three-course menu is a reasonable 40 euros and the staff are warm and attentive. Coeur de Filet is another fine-dining establishment with a fantastic menu influenced by French, Italian and Spanish cuisines. But there is also an underbelly of fantastic, straight-from the-net, fresh seafood joints dotted across the promenade. The cove at La Caleta is where you will find the most interesting local seafood menus. Here, also, are some excellent candlelit restaurants that come into their own at sunset.
Tenerife Sur is the international airport that serves the south of Tenerife island. The majority of UK charter flights arrive on Tuesday and Thursday when the airport is at its busiest. It is located 60km from Tenerife’s capital Santa Cruz and is no more than 30km from all of Tenerife’s southern resorts. Tenerife’s main motorway, the TF-1, runs almost to within walking distance of the resort. Taxis serving Costa Adeje are plentiful and their prices are reasonable. Depending on the time of day, number of passengers and suitcases they can fluctuate slightly, however, in general, a taxi from the airport should not cost more than 25 euros. Costa Adeje’s main bus station is next to the Magma centre, where Adeje borders Playa de Las Americas. There is also the ‘White Tourist Train’, which runs on the hour (10am-10pm) from Fañabe and to Torviscas on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. This is a free service and gives a guided tour of the resorts main attractions.
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