Costa Adeje Holidays - Compare Prices & Departure Dates

The Costa Adeje is a recently created tourist area on the south western part of Tenerife, the largest of the Canary Islands.

Just a few kilometres outside Playa de las Americas and Los Cristianos, Costa Adeje is close enough to these two big resort areas to be able to join in the fun if you want to, yet far enough away to offer tranquility.

Costa Adeje was developed in the late 90s and offers modern good-standard hotels and apartments dotted around the various coves and beaches in the area. Unlike Playas de las Americas and Los Cristianos, development has been carefully controlled to avoid high-rise blocks. Many of the most populated tourist areas have imported yellow sand from the Sahara, but here in Costa Adeje it’s more likely to the natural black volcanic sand on the beaches.

Facilities in this part of Tenerife are know to be excellent, with lots of choice in newly-built accommodation, restaurants and lots of leisure activities.

The volcano El Teide provides an ever-present backdrop to the area, standing out at 3718m and also provides a windbreak for the southern resorts, meaning sunshine and little wind, making the Costa Adeje and all year round destination for couples, families and friends seeking relaxation, sunshine, great beaches and the comforts of home.

The currency is the euro and the official language is Spanish, but pretty much everyone in the main tourist areas of the south speaks English, German and Italian. The island is one hour ahead of the UK.

Thousands of tourists from the UK arrive each year to the Costa Adeje area on package holidays, so there are many charter flights as well as low-cost airline flying in direct to Tenerife. There are no less than six international airports on Tenerife, with the closest to the Costa Adeje being Reina Sofia (IATA code TFS) which is 40 minute bus ride away from the coastal area.

Package holiday guests will be transferred to their accommodation by their tour operator, but if you arrive independently in Tenerife, it’s easy and relatively cheap to hire a car, or there are regular TITSA buses. Taxis are plentiful too if you don’t fancy driving yourself.

The flight time from London is around four hours and 20 minutes, whilst from Manchester take around five hours.

Once in resort, a hire car is the best way to go exploring or you will find your tour operator offers many day trips and excursions by coach. Bike hire is available, but not recommended as the roads are often windy, narrow and steep.

It’s true that most holidaymakers choose Tenerife because of the climate and year round sunshine. Costa Adeje in particular is gaining a reputation as offering clean beaches and rugged coastline, with well-equipped hotels and apartments residences, all combined with plenty of restaurants and things to do.

As well as lazing on the beaches and gazing out to the Atlantic Ocean, there is a plethora of water sports for you to try. Expect to see jet skis, banana boat rides, parasailing, windsurfing and surfing. There are also plenty of good dive sites and schools in the area if you’re a complete beginner. The Costa Adeje is ideal for learning, as the water is around 18 degrees in January and rises to 26 degrees in the height of summer.

Just in land there are several golf courses and water parks to entertain all the family, including Siam Park which is reputed to be the largest water park in Europe. There is also quad biking and go-karting offered at centres around Playa de las Americas.

Difficult to ignore is Mount Teide or El Teide, rising out of the island at 3718m above sea level and with a two-mile wide crater, making it the third largest volcano in the world. Tourists can no longer freely go to the very top of the volcano, as although dormant, the rock just below the surface is still glowing red. Such treks are regulated by the National Park office and a permit is required. Holidaymakers can take the cable car up to 3550m though and this trip costs around 25€ each way and affords great views over the whole island.

Being a purpose-built resort since the late 1990s, Costa Adeje offers a good range of medium to high standard hotels and apartments for you to choose from, with several international brand hotels having a presence in the area and plenty of restaurants and bars too.

With many coves and beaches in the area, you are never very far from the sea and many are clustered around the public beach of Playa del Duque.

Being modern, you will be pleasantly surprise that developments are relatively small and there is a definite lack of high rise buildings, yet if you want the excitement and nightlife of Los Cristianos and Playa de las Americas, it’s just a short drive away.

Although being part of the EU in terms of politics, the Canary Islands is separate in terms of customs and tax, meaning duty free is still alive and well in Tenerife.

Tourist and ‘high street’ style shops are everywhere and you’ll notice there are a great many shops selling electrical goods, but watch out for ‘too-good-to-be-true’ deals and don’t forget TV and video equipment in the Canaries is SECAM whilst in the UK it’s PAL.

You may also come across people selling scratch cards in the street – at best these games are illegal and at worst it’s all part of a timeshare scam, which, despite all the bad press over many years, still happens in Tenerife.

If you want your home comforts like McDonalds and a great British fry up or Sunday roast, you’ll be well catered for, but there is also a whole range of restaurants to try.

There are a lot of Chinese restaurants as well as Italian and some very good international cuisine in Costa Adeje. If you want to try something more local, you’ll find restaurants offer excellent sea food menus.

Authentic Spanish cuisine features heavily with paella and tortilla dishes on menus. Look out for regional products to taste such as Papas (black potatoes), the spicy sauce mojo picon and Canarian stew which is salted fish and yam-based.

As for drinks, wine is very popular as is Dorada beer and all your favourite international tipples will be available in most bars and cafes. To try something local, order the coffee-based drink Barraquito.

Costa Adeje is one of those truly all year round destinations, thanks to the microclimate created by the El Teide volcano behind the resorts. This means that the temperature rarely drops below 20 degrees even in winter. When the rain does fall, it’s generally in Jan and Feb, but there’s little of it and it’s still a pleasant time to visit for winter sun.

The main holiday season is still centred around the main school holidays in the summer, where you’ll find the beaches are very busy and with high temperatures and little wind, it’s advised to not spend too much time on the beach between 12 and 15:00, especially if you have young children.

• Year round sunshine and not that far from the UK
• Clean and safe beaches
• Family holidays
• A sunshine holiday with all the home comforts

• Those wanting to go on holiday to discover a different country – you’ll be surrounded by fellow Brits

• Tenerife Web – the official Tenerife Tourist Office website
• E Tenerife – news and info for tourists and ex-pats in Tenerife
• Cheap Hotels in Tenerife – a specialist website dealing with hotels and holidays in Tenerife North and South
• Costa Adeje Hotels – a good overview of the resort with detailed info on some popular hotels

The Costa Adeje area on Tenerife in the Canary Islands offers a great combination of year round sunshine, clean beaches, leisure activities and just enough nightlife to make it a good choice for anyone wanting summer or winter sun and relaxation.