These notes cover the following anchorages – click the name to jump to the relevant section.

• Santa Cruz de Tenerife
• Montaña Roja
• Las Galletas
• Los Cristianos

Santa Cruz de Tenerife

Santa Cruz is quite an attractive town – as towns go – and whereas 20 years ago one could only reach it by bus, having berthed one’s boat in the Darseña Pesquera, two miles to the north, the place now has its own marina. Unfortunately, however, the crew who run the place seem to have it in for yotties.

In May of 2009 they introduced a new tax. Or rather, they began to impose upon visiting yachtsmen, a tax which is intended to affect only full-time berth-holders. In effect, if you visit the marina in Santa Cruz de Tenerife you will be required to pay not only your night’s dues but also the tax which, rightfully, is supposed to be spread over the entire year. (ie. A yacht staying for one night ought to pay 1/365th of the annual tax, but visitors are currently being asked to cough up the full annual fee.)

Rumour has it that various yachtsmen are attempting to take the government to court over this unfair treatment – but, so far as we can see, the only sensible thing to do at the moment is to avoid the place.

(If you decide that you don’t mind forking out 200 € for a weekend in the city, be aware that no one may enter the port without permission. A German yacht which entered without having made radio contact was fined 15,000 € “for endangering the safety of another vessel”.)

There is no anchorage in the vicinity.

Montaña Roja

Yachts can anchor either side of the Montaña Roja, near to the airport, the choice depending on the wind conditions. This is a satisfactory place to await a fair wind but has little else to recommend it.

Las Galletas

Yachts can anchor outside the marina at Las Galletas or in the lee of the headland to the north – but, again, there is nothing worth doing or seeing here. A friend reports that yachtsmen berthing in the marina have been approached by the Aduanas with regard to their length of stay and the imposition of import duty.

Los Cristianos

Yachtsmen are no longer allowed to anchor off Los Cristianos, the local authorities having decided that they were responsible for an oil spillage which made their beach unusable for a day.
Clearly, the financial value of shorebased, beach-using tourism is considerably greater than the revenue derived from visiting yotties – but equally clearly, the oil did not derive from one of our number; it can only have come from a ship.

In conclusion, the Tenerife authorities seem to have decided that they do not want cruising yachtsmen in their waters. Bearing in mind that their hotels are more than half empty (and some are entirely empty) this seems a little bit short-sighted. We may not spend £1,000 in a week, but we certainly spend a good deal more than that in the course of an extended visit.

We suggest that cruising yachtsmen avoid Tenerife altogether until the authorities recognise our value and realise that they have shot themselves in the foot. After all, there are plenty of much nicer, much more welcoming places in the world!

IF YOU VISIT TENERIFE AND YOU FIND ANY OF THIS INFORMATION TO BE OUT OF DATE, OR OTHERWISE INCORRECT, PLEASE LET US KNOW.