The hotel was the Pearly Grey Ocean Club, and as the fancy name implies, provided us with massively cool, upmarket and clean lodgings. The view was astounding, a panoramic ocean view similar to what you’d find on Clifton Beach. Everyone at Pearly Grey was very friendly, with even a few South Africans thrown into the mix, who let us know the best places to eat, drive and visit. The last item on our list for our first day was to have dinner at Pearly Grey’s ‘The Razzmatazz’.
I rose early, and marvelled at the scenery from the west-facing cliffs making the sunrise from the back so much more prominent. There were lots of small boats on the ocean, with fishing nets visible about 500m out to sea. After a quick pool breakfast, I took a quick walk through town just to see what was around. A little while later it was back to Pearly Grey to pick up our car rental, now all I had to do was get used to driving on the right hand side of the road.
Our first port of call was Playa de San Juan, a small fishing village. I switched on my Tom Tom only to find that even though they’d included Europe, they’d seem to have forgotten Tenerife. The fishing village was awesome, very quiet and completely non-commercialised. Even though it was beautiful, watching fishermen offload buckets of tuna eventually became quite tiresome.
Next on the list was Masca, ‘the lost village’, and just driving there was half the fun. The road was so narrow at times it felt as though even our little hatchback couldn’t squeeze through, never mind all the other island drivers trying to squeeze past. Driving to Masca presented us with some beautiful mountain views, culminating in us stopping for a drink on a mountain top.
Now we descended the mountain at entered Garichico, another seaside village which boasted a series of natural lava pools that were perfect for swimming and used by locals and tourists alike. I climbed back into the car for a late start back to Pearly Grey, thinking only of chilling by the pool side and sipping a cold beer in the sunshine.
The next morning Santa Cruz was on our shopping list, Tenerife’s capital city and quite a big city as that. After spending quite a bit of time completely lost, I eventually recognised where I was going and so just took pleasure in taking in the sights and sounds of Santa Cruz, which reminded me of Cape Town. Just before we hit the Spanish Pyramids, we did a bit of shopping at St Maria del Mar.
The pyramids in Tenerife are built to the same mathematical principles as all the world’s other pyramids, but do not look the same, instead being a lot smaller and built less solidly. The exact use of the Canarian Pyramids has never been determined, but it is possible to view a double sun set from the top of one of them as the sun disappears below one mountain peak and emerges behind another.
Our next day was dedicated to that passionate South African pastime: chilling on the beach. Playa Del Deque in Costa Adeje, in my opinion the best beach in Tenerife was simply amazing. The beaches are slightly grey due to volcanic content, but are still a great way to spend the day with nothing but deck chairs, restaurants and water sports all around.
Chilling on my deck chair I tried to find the end of the beach (in either direction) with my line of sight, but it wasn’t possible. I started to think if this was the life, after all. Sadly, as the day progressed I realised it was nearly time to get going back to our hotel. Upon arrival, a paella dinner and relaxing afternoon break back at Pearly Grey made it all better.
Our most exciting day in Tenerife culminated in a trip up Mount El Teide, the island’s extinct volcano, and the reason for all the volcanic flora and fauna on the island. Sitting at over 3000m high, I found it to be very cold on Mount El Teide, but the peak offered breathtaking views. Descending the peak, we discovered Porta Del Cruz, another seaside port that offers lots of things to do.
As the end of our holiday loomed I decided to do what I knew best, and returned to the fantastic Playa Del Duque. I first tried Las Americas but found it too commercialised. We had a braai with some South Africans that work at Pearly Grey, and traditional South African food, drink and company was a refreshing change while overlooking the ocean from the deck.
Pearly Grey is owned and run by South Africans in Tenerife, the owner and developer is James Beckley.
Pearly Grey is a resort for everyone, catering for young and old. The apartments are self catering but if you don’t feel like cooking, the food in the restaurant is excellent. Happy hour is also very popular, a good place to meet and chat with other guests. The pool area offers plenty of sunbeds, so need no need to wake up at the crack of dawn to get your space in the sun. We stayed in an enormous and very comfortable apartment with everything we need and more. The view from our balcony is just stunning and hearing the waves crash against the rocks reminds us how far away from London and its grey skies we are.
Pearly Grey gets 5 stars all round, it is truly unique in every way and redefines quality and superior service as a resort.
THIS TRAVEL FEATURE SPONSORED BY:
PEARLY GREY OCEAN CLUB www.pearlygrey.com
