This was relaxing holiday, enjoying the winter sunshine, with some varied windsurfing but generally not much wind.
I scored a total of 9 days windsurfing out of 19.
We had strong winds on Saturday 5 January, but the water was remarkably flat, lumpy rather than wavy.
I had two further good days on wave boards on 16 and 17 January, when the waves were very much better. I sailed the Naish Hybrid with 5.7m or 6.6m sails on a further 6 days, of which 4 days provided good windsurfing.
I missed one day when I could have sailed late in the afternoon using a large sail. The wind stayed late into the evening.
The holiday was mainly very warm, with good sunshine and little cloud cover. We had some very good views of Gran Canaria, which is normally hidden in the mist. The last two days brought calima - warm, dry dusty air from the Sahara. The airport was reporting visibility down to 1700m
I wore my thin shorty wetsuit at first, but the convertable for the last few days.
This holiday was slightly later than usual, and coincided with Easter. We have never seen the beaches or the restaurants so busy. Never have we had to queue so long at check-in at Tenerife airport, or at passport control in Glasgow. I certainly prefer to travel out of season.
There were also more English speaking windsurfers on the beach than usual. OTC seems to be doing well in attracting more people. SurfCenter was also busy, especially with windsurfing lessons for beginners and intermediates.
When we arrived, there had been 15 days of continuous good winds. When we left, it was very windy, and further wind was forecast for the coming week. Somehow, I managed to book the weeks when the wind was slightly less.
There was only marginal winds on Thursday and Friday, but on Saturday, strong winds allowed me to sail the 75L Naish Pro wave board with 4.0m² sail in the morning and 4.5m² in the afternoon. Sunday promised to be similar, but the wind died, and I ended up sailing the Naish Hybrid with 5.3m² sail.
Monday was Hybrid conditions again - 5.7m² in the morning, and 6.6m² in the afternoon. I had a great time on the waves.
Tuesday was waveboard weather again. I sailed the 78L GlobalWave board with 4.5m² in the morning and 5.0m² in the afternoon.
During the first week, I had certainly had a good time. Four days sailing, on three different boards in varying conditions. Then there were 3 days with no wind at all, followed by a day of light winds when I sailed a large board with a 7.3m² sail. Sunday had no wind at all, but on Monday, light winds allowed me to get back on the Hybrid with a 5.7m² sail.
Tuesday had more wind, and the conditions were difficult. The sea state demanded a wave board, but the wind required a fairly large sail. I sailed the 78L Global Wave with 5.0m² sail in the morning and 5.3m² in the afternoon.
On my departure day, the wind was howling, and I was able to take some photos to show the conditions. I suspect I would have used a 3.7m² sail if I had stayed. As usual, the water was fairly flat in the morning. Conditions in the afternoon would have been much more interesting.
In all, I scored 7 days sailing from 13. I had good and varied windsurfing. My notes and photos from previous years show I might have hoped for better.
It was quite cold at times. I wore a 3mm convertible wetsuit. The final Tuesday was showery, very much like British summer weather. Yet, much of the time, it was sunny, and you could be on the beach in shorts.
The Atlantic Playa in North Bay has been refurbished, and should shortly be open for business. It is now the Arenas del Mar and can be booked on an all inclusive basis. Fun Factory hope to resume windsurf hire when the hotel is open.
We saw horse riding on Montaña Pelada, by the new solar panels.
The project to build a new commercial port is providing money for "restoration" work for the Special Natural Reserve of Montaña Roja. This work has involved chiselling out the oil deposits from the rock on the sea shore, dumping quantities of clinker over the historic footpaths, creating pretend sand dunes from stones, concreting over the entrance to a blockhouse and installing a rusty iron fence on top. Worse, this is only Phase 1. One might express a wish that they would go restore somewhere else.
On my next visit, I noticed the iron fence had been removed. Perhaps they realised it was not a good idea.
Tenerife is generally quiet in May, but proved an ideal choice for an early Summer holiday. April in Edinburgh had been disappointing.
The wind forecast was particularly promising when we arrived. The wind was blowing on the Wednesday, but I was too tired to sail that day. Still windy on the Thursday, and I sailed a ProWave board with 4.0m² sail.
Following this, we had some extremely hot weather. The airport reported temperatures certainly of 33°C. It was extremely dry with a dewpoint down to minus 5°C at the airport. In theory, wet cloths hung around the apartment would not only keep you cool, they would freeze. Further, there was a 'temperature inversion' so the winds at higher levels were not able to penetrate down to sea level. Good days for the beach or relaxing in the shade, but not for windsurfing or walking.
After two days of hot weather, I was windsurfing on the Naish Hybrid in shorts and T shirt with a 6.0m² sail! Then 3 days on the ProWave board with 4.0m² or 4.2m². Dreams are made of this. I found the 65L wave board suits me much better than the 75L board.
In my first full week I had sailed the ProWave board on 4 days, with sails of 4.2m² or smaller, and the Hybrid on one further day in shorts and T-shirt. With another couple of days relaxing on the beach, I was a really happy guy.
The next week was not so good. I sailed the Hybrid on 3 further days. I am fortunate to be able to sail this 89L board on waves with a 6.6m² sail. One day, there was wind enough for 5.7m²
For me, this was a very enjoyable holiday. Spring flowers, swallows, comfortable temperatures, shorts in the evening in the restaurants. On the water, I wore a 2mm shorty wetsuit most of the time. I would recommend you also take a 3mm summer suit for cooler days.
An excellent holiday, with windsurfing morning and afternoon on most days. On the day of my arrival, I was sailing my booked 65L ProWave board with a 5.0m² sail.
Gales had been forecast, but the first week was mainly 5.3m² weather. Following that, a week of stronger winds. Then three days with little wind - I sailed with a large board and sail on the last of these. Then five days with 5.0m² in the morning and 4.5m² or 4.7m² in the afternoon.
I did some of my most enjoyable sailing on the Naish Hybrid, making the most of the comparatively gentle conditions in the morning. The afternoon winds were usually extremely gusty. We had lots of waves. Though they were not particularly large, they could be steep and dangerous at times.
It was hot and sunny. We wore shorts and T-shirt in the restaurants in the evening. I wore a 2mm shorty on the water most of the time, but you could certainly windsurf in shorts and T-shirt. Neoprene or lycra tops are very fashionable. With a dewpoint temperature of 16-18°C, a wet T-shirt was not cold in the hot sun, even in fairly strong wind. The water was warm too.
The beach was very busy, particularly at weekends. There were lots of windsurfers. The windsurf beach was crowded with boards and sails, especially in the afternoon at high tide.
I saw some turtles. They are light brown in colour and float lazily in the water. Those I saw were quite small, with shells no larger than 50cm. Sometimes you see just a neck sticking out of the water. The last was definitely a turtle, with distinctive neck and flippers.
Major road works were in progress. The council is installing a new sewage system. The purpose of the pipes would appear to be to take both surface water and sewage from the old town and the new development on the hill away from the blue flag swimming area of Playa Sur.
I changed my usual holiday arrangements again this year, in the hope of better winds in December. Though, this year, the winds seemed much better than usual in October and November. We arrived to find no wind at all, and indeed there was no wind for a further 4 days. Worse than that, it was overcast much of the time and quite cold. Everyone was saying that it was the coldest November and December for some time.
This break was followed by 3 days when I sailed mainly the 78L Global Wave, with sails from 4.2m to 5.0m. The next 4 days were poor. I sailed the Naish Hybrid with a 5.7m sail for a short time on the first two of these days, didn't sail on the next day, and took a large board on the last. At this stage, things did not look good.
The last week was wonderful. I got into the habit of going out on the 78L Global Wave in the morning, before things got rough, then changing down to the 65L Pro Wave. The final Sunday was warm and sunny, with no wind, but our final day before departure I was back on the 65L Pro Wave as usual.
I am now very happy indeed with the 65L Pro Wave, which is a wonderful board in the very rough water conditions which El Médano attracts. I had good sailing on this board on 6 days. I enjoyed good waveboard sailing on the 78L Global Wave on a further 3 days, and sailed in light wind slalom conditions on 3 days. In summary, a very good windsurfing holiday at this time of year.
As mentioned earlier, it was unusually cold at times. I took a new 3/2 wetsuit with detachable arms, and wore my 2mm summer shorty over the top on occasion for extra warmth.
The road works are now complete, and everything is back to normal. The town and restaurants were quite busy at times, especially at weekends, but quiet during the week.
The OTC windsurf hire centre was temporarily closed, because of planning problem. The tourism department in Tenerife is particularly concerned, and working to help resolve the situation. Meanwhile, Surf Center is coping well with the unexpected extra business.