Charco del Viento: getting there and when to swim

It is the photograph everyone has seen of northern Tenerife: black lava flows running into the sea with a pool of clear water between them. It is in La Guancha, the municipality next to Icod on the east side, minutes from the midlands. Now the part the photographs leave out.

Access changed in 2025

La Guancha council reorganised traffic in the area: the usual approach from the TF-5, at Lomo La Bautista, became one-way downhill, and the exit runs via the Los Celajes track, which was paved in 2024 and remains open both ways.

In practice: go down the way the signs tell you and do not try to come back up the way you went down. This comes from local press, not an official bulletin, so trust the signs over us. What the Canary Islands tourist board does describe is the route itself: from the road towards Icod, a signposted tarmac link named after the pool runs through the banana plantations to a large car park, and renovated steps lead down to the pools.

When to go

• With a calm sea. That is the one non-negotiable condition. Summer tends to be quieter; from November to March the north gets serious.
• At low tide. That is the tide the Canary Islands tourist board recommends. At high tide the pool fills with swell and stops being a pool.
• Early or late. The car park is large, but the Canary Islands tourist board calls it the busiest bathing spot in La Guancha.
• Shoes with grip. You walk on lava and the rock at the water's edge is slippery. Flip-flops are a bad idea.

If the sea is not playing

Two alternatives at the same distance, with facilities. San Marcos is Icod's cove: black sand, sheltered from the heavy swell by its own shape. El Caletón, in Garachico, are the pools the 1706 eruption left where the lava met the sea: maintained, linked to the promenade, and rather busier.