April 24th, 2024

We had perfect weather for Tenerife. Tenerife if part of the Canary Islands and is part of Spain. We were supposed to come here on another cruise and did not make it due to high winds. The high was 77 and clear blue skies. The sunrise was late so we actually got to see it which is our first this cruise.

Sunrise off the balcony

I promise it is sunrise

We had company in port. There was also a small ship in front and behind us.

Today we were going whale watching and first we had to drive to the south part of the island which was an hour and 15 minute bus ride.

Whale watching is popular in Tenerife and they have a large group of pilot whales that are here year round. They say that since the water temperature is warm and constant and also because of the deep water it is good fishing grounds for the pilot whales. The pilot whale is a member of the dolphin family. There are long fin and short fin pilot whales. We were going to see the short fin dolphins.

They have huge catamarans they they load up with people and you spend about 3 hours on the water. It takes about 30 minutes to get out to the whales and then they spend about an hour with the whales and then they take you to a calm bay and let you go swimming before heading back to the dock. Another bonus is that you get to see the coast of Tenerife from the water.

Tenerife is a volcanic island and has a large volcano called Tiede which is usually covered in clouds. Mount Tiede, if measured from the ocean floor, is 24,600 feet which makes it the 3rd tallest volcano in the world. The elevation above sea level makes Tenerife the 10th highest island in the world.

Since we had such great weather it was a perfect day to see the volcano

Mount Tiede in the center.

When whales are spotted 1 boat at a time is allowed to approach and they are only supposed to spend 15 minutes around them. Much different than Cabo in Mexico where they are surrounded by boats. Also pilot whales don’t usually breach (jump out of the water) and they aren’t known for showing their tales when they dive. So basically you just see the rounded back and fin.

The gray fin is a juvenile

A pod of whales

Give you an idea of the size

Since they are smaller whales they have a small “blow”

After the whale watching we anchored in this calm bay and we were able to go swimming. The weather was cool and they said the water temperature was about 72 degrees. I debated for several minutes and finally thought I am here and the water is beautiful so I may as well.

The water color

The bottom was just sand and about 40 feet deep but crystal clear.

Jumping in was cold and I also thought the water was very salty but when I got out and dried off and I was not sticky like you usually are after you get out of salt water. Kathy opted not to get in and kept an eye on our stuff. The catamaran was quite full and there were people on their that were not from the cruise ship.

We had a nice ride back along the coast and you could see all the hotels and the beautiful beaches.

Lots of resorts

You can see the black sand beach

I liked the colored buildings. Behind the buildings are plantains under netting to protect from the salt water and sun

After the whale watching we drove back to the port and Kathy went back to the boat and I walked into town since the weather was so nice.

The town was nice and clean and had big promenades with cafes and outdoor eating.

Every city has one of these now it seems.

I loved the way you had these towns built into the side of mountains.

The Tenerife coast line

We sailed away about 6pm. Tenerife is definitely on our list to return to. One of the things you can do is take a cable car up to the top of Mount Tiede and on a clear day the views are spectacular.

Our next port is Thursday and is Agadir, Morocco. The plan is to dock around 4:30pm and get off a group of people that are going on an overland to Marrakech. We will stay in Agadir overnight right and pick up the overland group in Casablanca on Saturday.

We have never been to Morocco so looking forward to it.