Words & photos - John Lymer
El Medano, Tenerife works well in October/ November. Daytime highs of 24 to 30C and nighttime lows of maybe 19C. The wind seems to be as reliable as anywhere too - Force 4 or more for 7 or 8 of my 11 days there. As keen as I am, that’s more than I want to do or can physically manage, especially with tennis elbow!
Four members and 2 wives made the trip after the success of last year’s holiday around the same time, most of them for one week.
Hire centres typically open 10am to 5pm. The wind builds from early morning and is usually enough for planing by 10.30am. It’s not unusual for people with their own kit to be on the water by 8am. That seems over keen, but maybe essential if they have to work later. Conditions suit experienced windsurfers and wingfoilers best, though there are lessons for beginners in quieter spots and at less windy times. When we were on the water it was generally Force 4 to 5, so 15 to 20 knots, a swell of 4 to 6 feet and often a shore break that demanded a bit of respect, timing and technique to get through. We managed admirably!
After lunch on the first day I changed up and was beach starting with a larger sail. In the shore break I rested the sail on my head a little. Suddenly, BANG! The panel above the boom split. That cost me 250 euros, though the 39 euros a year VDWS (German) hired kit insurance I started last year should cover all but a 50 euro excess – I’m waiting to hear about my claim. Annoying as I’m sure the sail was considerably weakened by sun damage. In fairness, after I used up my 4 flexi-days, at least the hire centre discounted an extra days hire for me - 50 instead of 110 euros.
3 of us windsurfed. Norbert wingfoiled. We hired from Tenerife Windsurf Solutions. Norbert hired from Hotel Playa Sur, where he stayed, and also the Duotone Centre. He also had an E-foil session on a day without wind.
A novelty for me was seeing 2 flying fish whizz across in front of me. Not an everyday windsurfing occurrence! Another novelty was setting off in complete darkness on a sunrise walk with Andy. We almost reached the top of the extinct volcano, Montana Roja, at the far end of the bay by official sunrise about 7.15am. And just enough light to scale the rough track up.
Mostly we ate out together at the wide range of restaurants in the town. The bay offers extensive beaches for sunbathing and swimming and preferably safely segregated from those pesky windsurfers. Even so, some bathers are completely oblivious to the hazards of mixing with boardsports!
Buses can get you to the capital, Santa Cruz, or the much nearer resorts such as Los Christianos and Playa de las Americas. Or there’s car hire or coach excursions. Weather/wind forecasts seem reliable enough so you can arrange outings on non-windy days.
Holidays seem to be a choice between a Jet2 package, or Easijet or Ryan Air flights and an apartment booked online. Then pre-book windsurf hire, or arrange it in resort and even on the day with many centres to choose from.
Later during our stay there were incidents around the island with high waves. 15 people were injured and sadly 3 died, 1 of these just a mile from where we stayed! A little after that the wind switched 180 degrees (SW’ly instead of the more normal NE’ly), heralding the arrival of a Storm Claudia which followed us back to the UK. Gusts up to 100 km/hour across parts of the Canaries were forecast and rain up to 100mm in 12 hours! We didn’t experience the rain and the tail wind cut 25 minutes off our flight home. There were certainly fewer on the water during our last day in Tenerife and sails mostly around 4.0m. There was less swell and shore break with that wind direction though. Beaches were deserted then - understandable unless you actually like being sandblasted! In some of the later photos you’ll see wind blown spray and sand from this time.
Same holiday again next year? Yes, I think we will! How about you? There are few other places in Autumn with such reliable wind and good temperatures, except maybe more expensive options such as the Caribbean, Egypt, South Africa, Brazil …?
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