Palm-Mar: what it is like to live in the quietest corner of south Tenerife
A dead-end village between a lava field and the Atlantic, ten minutes from Los Cristianos and a world away from it.
Palm-Mar is a small residential development at the southernmost tip of Tenerife, in the municipality of Arona, about ten kilometres and twelve minutes from Los Cristianos. It has no historic centre, no patron saint and no fiestas of its own. What it has instead is silence, a nature reserve at the end of the street, and the Atlantic on three sides.
The walk that starts where the road ends
The Malpaís de la Rasca is a 315-hectare special nature reserve of cardón and tabaiba scrub on old lava, closed to cars by a barrier at the edge of the village. A circular route of about three hours, almost flat, passes four small volcanic cones, abandoned salt pans and the Faro de Punta de la Rasca — a lighthouse first lit in 1898, with the modern tower completed in 1978. There is no shade whatsoever and no facilities. Take water and go early.
This is also the southern boundary of the Teno-Rasca marine protected area, which is why whales are a local matter here rather than an excursion.
The beach
Playa El Palmar is small — roughly 120 metres by 10 — with dark sand and gravel and calm water. It is a neighbourhood beach rather than a destination, which is the point. For a long golden beach with lifeguards, showers and wheelchair access, Las Vistas in Los Cristianos is fifteen minutes away and holds a Blue Flag.
The honest part: you need a car
Palm-Mar is served by a single bus line, TITSA 468, with eight departures a day on weekdays. The first leaves at 06:10 and the last at 16:00, and there is a five-hour gap in the middle of the day. Reaching Los Cristianos by bus means changing at Guaza. By car it is twelve to fifteen minutes.
Once you are at the Los Cristianos interchange the network is genuinely good — frequent buses to the airport, Costa Adeje, Santa Cruz and Puerto de la Cruz. The problem is only the last ten kilometres.
What is nearby
Who it suits
Palm-Mar suits people who want a quiet place to work and walk, with a resort town close enough to use and far enough not to hear. It does not suit anyone who wants to step out of the door into nightlife, or who plans to manage without a car.