As we spent most of our holidays in Tenerife in the south of the island, this is were we also discovered various places and attractions not only for children. In general, the south of Tenerife is much more touristic than the north and, for example, all water parks are located there. We did avoid places such as Playa de las Americas, but we did not avoid the temptation and took our children to Siam Park, which was obviously called as the best attraction of the holiday 🙂 Besides, we sailed a pirate ship on the ocean, visited a banana plantation, we did a few shorter hikes and went to the highest peak in Spain, the Teide volcano. Are you curious about the details?

Siam Park
According to Trip Advisor, it is the best water park not only in Europe, but even in the world! I am not sure how owners of water parks in Dubai react to this, but we have no comparison 🙂 Is Siam Park really that great? According to us, it is definitely worth taking kids there! Although I don’t know who had a better time, Gabriela or me? 🙂 The park is above all beautifully situated and decorated. The whole area is planted with beautiful and well-kept vegetation, which means that we can easily move to another world. Everything is clean and tidy, and the slides will surely provide adrenaline for the whole family. For the youngest, a separate Lost City mini park (photo below) has been planned, where preschool children can go wild without restrictions. There is even a separate corner for infants. In addition, of course, there are a dozen or so slides of various types, with varying degrees of advancement. Adam and Tomasz spent most of their time riding on pontoons in Jungle Snake, and at that time I took Gabriela and Oskar and we tested bigger slides. I say right away that we didn’t ride all of them because I didn’t want to push the kids beyond their comfort zone. But it was fun! I do not know how many times we climbed the stairs to the top of the slides, but I did not take so many steps on any other day during my vacation 🙂
It is worth noting that at the entrance to each attraction there is a board with information about the required height and age of the child, that can use the slide. Unfortunately, at the beginning, we did not pay attention to such a board and, as a result, after half an hour of standing in the queue, Adam and Konrad were rejected with their daddies and they did not manage to get down. Fortunately, there were not too many tears 🙂
Currently, of course, due to covid, a number of restrictions have been introduced in the park. Including only 30% of tickets are sold. And I will say yes, there were no terrible crowds, but if it actually was 30% of the park’s capacity, I cannot imagine what is happening there in full occupancy. The longest we waited in a queue was for 30 minutes, but it only happened once. In addition, the park informs us about disinfection mats at the entrance (which we did not even notice), about the disinfection of sand on a beach (seriously?) And about the obligation to wear masks throughout the park. Honestly, when I read it, I thought someone was crazy, so I wrote an inquiry to the park about it. In response, I was informed that the masks are only mandatory in restaurants, toilets and shops. The reality, however, turned out to be completely different and … as a result, we had to be wearing masks all the time. In the water park! On the slides! I mean, you don’t have to have it on the slides, but standing in the queue yes 🙂 And although at the beginning we were shocked by this fact, after some time we did not care, and the most important thing was fun. Fortunately, no one was chasing children for not having masks (as adults).
Current prices, opening hours and a list of attractions can be found on the park’s website HERE .

Dolphin watching in the ocean
We planned such a cruise already last year in Gran Canaria, but unfortunately we didn’t make it then, because almost everything was closed. Now it also seemed that we would not sail, because all the cruises from Costa Adeje that I took into account (i.e. those with good grades and the Blue Boat certificate) were already booked. But on the occasion of our trip to Los Giganes, we found Flipper Uno that still had available places! When looking for these types of cruises, I did not take into account that we would drive so far from home to board the ship, but what are you not doing to see dolphins in the wild?
I will not convince you that Flipper Uno is the best option, but it is definitely worth recommending and we were very pleased with their offer. You can choose a pirate ship (as in the photo) or a smaller motorboat. During longer cruises, you can eat lunch included in the price. We chose a 2-hour cruise, which included admiring dolphins in their natural environment and, for those willing, swimming in the ocean in Masca Bay.
As you can see, I am not going to show you some impressive pictures of dolphins doing acrobatics, but trust me, every time we managed to spot a pair of dolphins looking out of the water, the children’s joy was indescribable. An additional attraction was the possibility of swimming in the ocean. And most of us took advantage of it. Both Gabriela and Adam dared to enter this icy water! A bit problematic nowadays is that the crew does not give life jackets to people who want to swim (because they cannot disinfect them, but we had been informed about it earlier), so Tomasz was afraid to be alone in the water with the children. Adam ran away after a few seconds anyway, and Gabriela actually knows how to swim, so she did a great job! According to children, it is number 2 of holiday attractions 🙂

Banana plantation
In Tenerife, everywhere you come across banana plantations, or rather plantain plants, because that is what these local fruits are called. Unfortunately, apart from the Canary Islands, mainland Spain and Switzerland, you will not be able to taste them anywhere, because unfortunately they do not meet the EU requirements (we also do not understand why). Looking at the number of plantations, it is difficult to imagine that such an amount of bananas is consumed only by the domestic market, but maybe the Spaniards really like to eat them?
We know there are several plantations on the island that you can visit, but the closest to us was Finca Las Margaritas (with very high Google ratings) and that’s where we decided to go and see how bananas are grown! You can visit the plantation on your own, and there is a guided tour once a day (at the same price). According to the information we received, the keynote presentation should last about 20 minutes, and in fact Ana was telling us about bananas for an hour. And we were not bored for a moment! We learned a lot of interesting facts about bananas, e.g. that they are not trees, but grass! Did you know about it? Banana plants have almost no roots and are very easy to knock over, and all the plants are female 🙂
After an hour-long walk around the plantation, it was time for the degustation. Of course, we got bananas to taste, but also gofio (such local sweets made of flour made of various grains and legumes), dried bananas, banana jam, banana wine, various sauces (mojo) and other delicacies. The tasting and of course the shopping took another hour, I guess.
According to us: a must-visit place in Tenerife!

El Teide
El Teide, a volcano that rises above the entire island and at the same time is the highest peak in Spain, is a must-see for everyone visiting Tenerife. You can reach the top by a cable car, and those willing can climb the entire route on foot. You can read about our trip to El Teide and about other tracks on the island that we have hiked HERE.

Los Gigantes
Los Gigantes, or the Giants, are massive, majestic rocks rising from the ocean on the southwest coast of the island. The easiest way to admire them is from one of the viewpoints or from the beach in Acantilados de Los Gigantes. Alternatively, you can take a boat trip and watch them from the ocean. We actually had the opportunity to admire them from both perspectives. From the village of Acantilados de Los Gigantes, there is a coastal trail which is said to be quite difficult but with beautiful views.

Masca
Masca is a tiny, charming village in the mountains off the west coast of the island. It is inhabited by only about 100 people, but it is visited by thousands of tourists. The road to Masca from Santiago del Teide is very winding and narrow and I would not recommend it to anyone with motion sickness. This section is only 5.2 km, but covering it can take you much more than 15 minutes. A valley called Barranco de Masca leads to the coast from the village of Masca, which is a fantastic place to hike. But due to the difficulty of the trail, it is not available to children under the age of 8. Apparently, it is possible to go down the valley and return to civilization with a previously ordered boat from Masca Bay. Otherwise, you need to go back up the same route 🙂
When being there we only took a short walk, drank pomegranate juice, ate ice cream and bought local mandarins.

Horse Riding
This attraction is not for everyone, but I will mention it to you anyway. Here, traditionally Gabriela and dad went for a ride.
There are at least a few stables in the south of Tenerife that offer horseback riding and riding lessons for everyone, even children. Beginners can go for an hour walk, and more advanced ones even for a day trip with lunch on the beach (Gabriela’s dream, but we didn’t really feel like for a 6-hour trip). We used the offer of Juan Martin stables due to the good reviews and convenient hours.