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Golf guide • Spain • Canary Islands

Golf in Tenerife: fairways between lava flows and the Atlantic

Tenerife, the largest of the Canary Islands, gathers three 18-hole courses on its south-west coast, less than half an hour from one another: Abama, designed by Dave Thomas, Golf Costa Adeje, laid out by Pepe Gancedo on former terraced banana plantations, and Golf Las Américas. Real Club de Golf de Tenerife, founded in 1932 in the northern uplands, completes the trip. You can play all year, best from October to May, while the rest of Europe is cold.

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Tenerife is a volcanic island dominated by the Teide, which rises above 3,700 metres and splits the island into two climates. In the north, the trade winds snag clouds on green, cool slopes; in the south and south-west, sheltered by the mountain, the coast stays dry and sunny almost every day of the year. It is here, between Adeje and Guía de Isora, that the modern courses have settled, on land once planted with banana trees and cut into dry-stone terraces.

Golfers therefore base themselves in Costa Adeje: Golf Las Américas is a quarter of an hour away, Golf Costa Adeje just above the coast, and Abama less than half an hour to the north-west. All three look out to La Gomera, whose silhouette closes the horizon at sunset. The ground slopes, the ball runs on fairways edged with black lava, palms and dragon trees, and a buggy is often welcome.

Real Club de Golf de Tenerife plays a different tune. Founded in 1932 in Tacoronte, between 600 and 725 metres above sea level, it is the island's oldest club: a course of trees and ravines, cooler and greener, an hour and a quarter from the south. Combine it with a day in La Laguna, the neighbouring old town. Four to seven nights let you play all four courses without hurrying.

The courses

Green and white-sand bunkers beside a lake ringed by black lava, palms and an ochre volcanic cone behind

Golf Costa Adeje

  • Architect: Pepe Gancedo
  • Opened 1998
  • 18 holes
  • Par 72

Opened in 1998 on the heights of Adeje, the championship course by Pepe Gancedo, six-time Spanish champion turned architect, has kept what defined the original banana plantation: the terraces and their volcanic-stone walls, which cut wide fairways into successive tiers. Par 72, white-sand bunkers, generous greens and views of La Gomera from almost every tee. The club hosted the European Tour's Tenerife Open in 2021. A nine-hole course, Los Lagos, par 33, and a three-level driving range complete the facilities: the ideal base for a trip, to play from the first day.

Official website

Abama Golf

  • Architect: Dave Thomas
  • Opened 2005
  • 18 holes
  • Par 72

Designed by Dave Thomas and opened in 2005 at Guía de Isora, on the western flank of the Teide, Abama is the island's most spectacular course. The club counts more than 20,000 palms, some 300 species of subtropical plants, 22 lakes linked by waterfalls, and white-sand bunkers. A par 72, it climbs to 315 metres above sea level at the 5th green, then descends towards the ocean, with La Gomera in your sights on most holes. Its changes in elevation make it the most demanding test in the south; book a buggy.

Signature hole. The 10th, nicknamed El Oasis, is the most photographed hole on the course: a green surrounded by water and palms, facing the Atlantic.

Official website

Golf Las Américas

  • Architect: John Jacobs Associates
  • Opened 1998
  • 18 holes
  • Par 72

Laid out in 1998 by John Jacobs's firm on the edge of Playa de las Américas, the course occupies a natural amphitheatre sheltered from the wind by the hills. A par 72 of 6,051 metres, it unfolds over gentle terrain among palms, dragon trees, canals and ponds. Water comes into play on all four par 3s (the 5th, 8th, 11th and 13th) and from the 1st, a par 5 where you choose between attacking over the water or going round to the right. Less hilly than Abama, it is the easiest course to walk and the closest to the coastal hotels.

Official website

Real Club de Golf de Tenerife

  • Architect: Antonio Lucena, Andrés Alberto, Joaquín Laynez, Aureliano Yanes
  • Opened 1932
  • 18 holes
  • Par 71

Founded in December 1932 in Tacoronte, ten minutes from Tenerife North airport, the Real Club is the island's elder statesman. A par 71 of 5,740 metres from the back tees, it winds between 600 and 725 metres above sea level, beneath the pines, laurels, chestnuts and eucalyptus of a century-old plantation. Ravines serve as natural hazards, the four par 5s are long and the views alternate between the sea and the Teide. Every hole has a name, from Dos Barrancos at the 10th to Aeroplano at the 17th. An old-school club course, cooler than those of the south, for those who love history and trees.

Official website

Where to stay

Royal Garden Villas & Spa

Twenty-eight villas of one to three bedrooms, each with its own heated private pool, in a subtropical garden on the slopes of Costa Adeje, a few minutes from Golf Costa Adeje. You live here as if at home, with five-star service: dinner at the Jardín restaurant, the Golden Pond spa after eighteen sloping holes. The detail worth knowing: brunch can be served on a floating tray, in your own pool.

Hotel San Roque

In Garachico, the Carayon family found the Casa de Ponte, an eighteenth-century manor house, in 1990 and restored it between 1992 and 1996: courtyards, wooden galleries, volcanic stone, furniture by Mies van der Rohe or Mackintosh and contemporary art. Ask for the Suite La Torre, climb to the rooftop solarium facing the Atlantic and dine at Anturium. Adults only; allow about three quarters of an hour to the Real Club, more at rush hour.

Private pool lit at dusk in front of a white villa, bougainvillea, palms and the ocean in the distance

Where to dine

El Rincón de Juan Carlos

The brothers Juan Carlos and Jonathan Padrón, sons of cooks and grandsons of fishermen, run this two-Michelin-star restaurant on the fifth floor of the Royal Hideaway Corales Beach, forty metres above the ocean. A single long tasting menu, creative cooking inspired by the Canaries: their black pudding turrón with almond praline has become their signature. It serves dinner only, Monday to Friday; book it first.

Casa Tomás

Verísima García and Tomás Galván opened this house of Canarian cooking in 1977 in Tegueste, above La Laguna, and still run it with their son Víctor. Come for the costillas con papas y piña, salted pork ribs with potatoes and corn on the cob, after a garbanza or a ropa vieja. About a quarter of an hour from the Real Club: the lunch after a morning tee time. Closed on Mondays and in August.

Beyond golf

The Teide

Teide National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2007, surrounds the highest summit in Spain. The volcano rises above 3,700 metres; reaching the summit itself requires a free permit booked in advance. The sky is so clear that an astronomical observatory occupies a neighbouring ridge: for an evening up there, among lava flows and stars, bring a warm jacket.

La Laguna

Founded in 1496-1497 and listed by UNESCO in 1999, San Cristóbal de La Laguna served as a model for the colonial cities of Latin America with its grid plan. Stroll between the cathedral with its neoclassical façade, houses with carved wooden balconies and open patios. The town is a few minutes from the Real Club: a morning of golf, an afternoon of wandering.

Garachico

On the north-west coast, Garachico was the island's great port until the eruption of 1706, whose lava flows filled in the harbour. The village, rebuilt at the foot of the cliff, is explored on foot, between old houses and frozen lava flows at the water's edge. Allow a full day, taking the northern road to see both faces of Tenerife.

Dark-stone cobbled street lined with Canarian houses with carved wooden balconies and green shutters

When to go

You can play all year round: on the coast, the average is 18 to 20 °C in winter and 24 to 26 °C in summer. The high golf season runs from October to May, when the dry, sunny southern courses attract players from northern Europe; tee times then need booking early. Summer is hot but tempered by the ocean, and quieter on the courses. In the north, the Real Club, at altitude, is cooler and damper, with frequent cloud.

Getting there

Tenerife South airport (TFS) is the most practical for a golf trip: Costa Adeje is 22 kilometres away, about twenty-five minutes by road. Tenerife North airport (TFN) is ten minutes from the Real Club; depending on flights, it lets you begin or end the trip in the north. A hire car is useful: the southern courses are less than half an hour apart, the north an hour and a quarter away by motorway.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best golf course in Tenerife?

Abama, designed by Dave Thomas and opened in 2005 at Guía de Isora, is the most spectacular, with its 22 lakes and views of La Gomera. Golf Costa Adeje, which hosted the Tenerife Open in 2021, is the south's other benchmark.

How many golf courses are there in Tenerife?

The Canary Islands tourist board lists nine golf courses on the island. Three 18-hole courses in the south-west (Abama, Costa Adeje and Las Américas) are less than half an hour from Costa Adeje; Real Club de Golf de Tenerife is in the north, at Tacoronte.

When is the best time to play golf in Tenerife?

From October to May, to enjoy a mild climate while the rest of Europe is cold. You can play all year: summer remains bearable by the ocean and the courses are quieter.

Where should I stay for a golf trip to Tenerife?

In Costa Adeje, in the south-west: Golf Las Américas, Golf Costa Adeje and Abama are all less than half an hour away. The Real Club, in the north, makes a day's round trip.

Which airport should I fly into for a golf trip to Tenerife?

Tenerife South (TFS), about twenty-five minutes from Costa Adeje. Tenerife North (TFN) is ten minutes from the Real Club but more than an hour from the southern courses.

Tailor-made

Your golf trip: Tenerife

Tee times, suites, transfers and tables: your concierge replies within 24 hours with a proposal shaped around you.

Palm-lined fairway and small lake at sunset, ochre cliffs and the Mediterranean on the horizon
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