A cove beside San Marcos beach, on the Icod coast, at dusk

Guide · Guide to north Tenerife

Beaches near Icod de los Vinos: black sand and rock pools

Beaches near Icod: San Marcos, Charco del Viento, El Caletón, Playa Jardín, El Bollullo and Benijo. Which ones are safe, and when to swim at each of them.

  • 2 minread
  • 22 September 2026checked
  • 2sources
© Jules Verne Times Two · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

The north of Tenerife is not the south, and it is worth knowing that before you arrive with a towel. Here the sand is black, the Atlantic comes in hard, and many of the best places to swim are not beaches at all but pools carved out by lava. In exchange, they are almost never crowded.

The easiest: San Marcos

The most photogenic: Charco del Viento

A few kilometres east, already in La Guancha, there is a volcanic pool made famous by photographs: black lava flows running into the sea with a pool of clear water between them. It is not an equipped beach. A track leads down, there are no facilities and no lifeguard, and it is badly exposed to the northern swell.

The natural pools: El Caletón

In Garachico, minutes to the west, the 1706 eruption left a set of pools where the lava met the sea — Las Viejas, Los Niños, Los Chorros — which are now the most popular bathing spot in the north-west. They are maintained and connected to the seafront promenade, which makes them the most rewarding option when the sea is calm.

If you want facilities: Playa Jardín

If you want a wild cove: El Bollullo

And the one to check first: Benijo

Before you head to the coast

The sea today: where to check it

In the north the sea matters more than the sun: a clear day can still bring a heavy swell. AEMET publishes sky, wind, swell, water temperature and UV index for each beach.

Forecast by beach (AEMET)

Sea, warnings and water quality

Links checked on 2026-09-24. With a red flag or a coastal warning, do not swim even if the water looks calm from above.

Finca Julia is a few minutes from all of this.

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Sources

  1. Turismo de Tenerife — playas ↗
  2. Turismo de Garachico — El Caletón ↗

Updated on: · Reviewed on:

This guide is written from a house in Icod.

Finca Julia is a Canarian house for four in the hills above the town. Availability and price are on the official listing.

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Plans

Plans that pass through here

Experiences and itineraries that share places with this page.

  • PlanBlack, blue and lavaA whole day · 6–8 hThe black sand of San Marcos, the rock pools of El Caletón and the badlands of Chinyero: the coast and the volcano that made it, on a dry day without a swell.
  • DayA day that children can take1 dayBlack sand in a sheltered cove, a park you walk in an hour, an indoor butterfly house and natural pools with proper access.
  • PlanFrom the volcano to the AtlanticA whole day · 7–9 hUp to Teide in the morning, the whole island from La Rambleta at 3,555 metres, and down to swim at San Marcos in the afternoon. Only possible from the north.
  • PlanA morning with children in IcodA morning · 3–4 hEight hundred butterflies under glass, a dragon tree you can do in twenty minutes and a beach with showers and black sand. Three stops within six minutes.

Keep reading

The whole guide

Finca Julia · Icod de los Vinos

And at the end of the day,
the terrace.

An old Canarian house on the hillside, with the Atlantic in front. Availability and price are on the official Airbnb listing.

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Finca Julia

★ 4,96 · 52 reviews

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