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Coastal Stewardship Network: Collaborative Monitoring and Protection of First Nations’ Lands and Waters

Coastal Stewardship Network at a Glance

First Nations in British Columbia have effectively managed the rich resources of their territories for millennia. But the balance they had maintained with nature has been threatened with increasing pressure from industry, high-impact tourism, and climate change, while unsustainable resource extraction has reduced opportunities for First Nations in fishing and forestry.

This is the story of how several disparate Guardian Watchmen programs on the Central and North Coast and Haida Gwaii came together to form a network that strengthened all of them—and how, during a critical build-out period from 2009 to 2012, its nine member Nations formalized collaborative working relationships among their stewardship offices and Guardian Watchmen programs. Participation in the Network is helping all member Nations power up monitoring efforts and the quality of analysis on environmental and resource management decisions—and generating interest from many quarters.

Guardian Watchmen, community Elders, and stewardship directors share stories, knowledge and common concerns during the Coastal Stewardship Network’s 2017 Annual Gathering at Hakai Institute in April. From left to right: John Sampson, Roger Harris, Charles Saunders and Ernie Tallio of Nuxalk First Nation. COURTESY OF Coastal First Nations / Bessie Brown

The remarkable story of how—in less than a decade—several distinct Guardian Watchmen programs became part of a nine-Nation network of resource stewardship offices, supported by stable funding and operating a robust regional monitoring system, has been making waves far beyond the Great Bear Rainforest and Haida Gwaii. Now known as the COASTAL STEWARDSHIP NETWORK, it inspires Indigenous peoples from ACROSS CANADA and beyond. RESEARCHERS partner with Network members to tease out best practices in stewardship training for indigenous youth and fisheries monitoring. And the Network was recently cited in a recent NEW YORK TIMES feature about indigenous communities across North America forging new alliances to protect traditional territories. People who played major roles in the Network’s startup and critical build-out years from 2009 to 2012 have generously shared its history and lessons learned.

Funded Guardian Programs, Version 1.0

Kitasoo/Xai’xais Nation Chief Councillor and Resource Stewardship Director Doug Neasloss leads an integrated stewardship program in Klemtu, B.C. that manages protected areas, conducts a wide range of conservation science projects, and operates a Guardian Watchman program. PHOTO BY Brodie Guy

Although First Nations in B.C. have been involved in resource management and environmental stewardship for millennia, funded Guardian Watchmen programs took root in the early 1990s. That was when the Department of Fisheries and Oceans—responding to SPARROW, a Supreme Court decision that recognized First Nations’ right to fish for food, social and ceremonial purposes—began hiring people from a handful of First Nations along the coast and Haida Gwaii to “observe, record, and report” possible violations of environmental regulations in their traditional territories.

But funding for these early Guardian programs was sometimes scaled back over time for First Nations that wouldn’t sign agreements placing new limitations on their Aboriginal title and rights. Newly trained Guardian Watchmen were frequently lured away to DFO positions, which offered permanent work that Guardian programs couldn’t. The programs were also playing out in the increasingly charged political context of B.C. in the 1990s, when the “War In The Woods” raged between forest companies and conservation groups and First Nations were too often seen as one more stakeholder interest that could be traded off.

Art Sterritt, the influential First Nations leader who co-founded Coastal First Nations, remembers how momentous changes in land-use planning at the time seemed to promise change for industry and conservationists while leaving First Nations strapped for resources and capacity to ensure that territories are properly managed. “We need to challenge [environmental organizations] to come up with some resources … a program whereby we can steward the resources in the territory in perpetuity,” he remembers thinking. “So we challenged the environmental community to come up with that … to put their money where their mouth is … And they accepted the challenge!”In 2000, far-sighted leaders in First Nations formed potent new alliances: the Na̲nwak̲olas Council, which comprised six Nations from BC’s South-Central Coast and Vancouver Island, and Coastal First Nations – Turning Point Initiative (later renamed COASTAL FIRST NATIONS – GREAT BEAR INITIATIVE), composed of nine Nations from the Central and North Coasts and Haida Gwaii. Together, they re-imagined the coastal economy as one that would empower First Nations to thrive while protecting the environment on which their cultures and quality of life depend.

After more than a decade of negotiations, First Nations, the Government of B.C., environmental groups and forest companies stood together in February 2006 to announce the Great Bear Rainforest Agreements. These agreements were the basis to secure investment of $120 million from philanthropic donors in partnership with the provincial and federal governments to create Coast Funds in 2007 (read more about the origins of that Agreement, and Coast Funds, HERE). It included more than $56-million for an endowment fund that would generate funds for First Nations’ ongoing stewardship work—forever.

Guardians Power Up

A Guardian Watchman from Nuxalk Nation (in Bella Coola) educates visitors on applicable regulations, Indigenous laws, and First Nations stewardship. PHOTO COURTESY of Coastal First Nations / Sandra Thomson

As Coastal First Nations developed new land-use protocols with the B.C. government to implement ECOSYSTEM-BASED MANAGEMENT, one thing was clear: long-running Guardian Watchmen programs had an important role.

What better way to explore their collective potential than to bring them together? In 2005, Coastal First Nations convened a meeting in Port Hardy of people working as Guardian Watchmen and in Guardian-like technical roles. Claire Hutton, who helped organize the meeting while working with the Sierra Club, recalls it as transformative.“[Guardian Watchmen] are our eyes and ears,” explains Sterritt. “They report back to the community, and get their mandate from the community. Their job is to make sure that our territories are protected.”

“When people came together, it was like fireworks went off,” she says, remembering “so many synergies” at that first of many such annual gatherings. Guardians affirmed their deep connection to their work in the face of unceasing pressures on their territories. They voiced their shared desire for recognition of their unique responsibility and comprehensive training, and identified and resolved overlaps in areas that they’d been monitoring. A new Network—the COASTAL GUARDIAN WATCHMEN NETWORK—was born.

During the Network’s early years, member Nations conducted Guardian Watchmen activities through a patchwork of funding sources—like BC Parks, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, the Sierra Club BC, The Nature Conservancy (now TNC Canada), the Rainforest Solutions Project—and volunteer effort. But that changed in 2009, when Coastal First Nations accessed a stable source of funding through Coast Funds’ conservation endowment. It also secured more than $1.3 million of investment from Coast Funds into Coastal First Nations efforts to develop a model for First Nations stewardship departments, to develop community-based Guardian Watchman programs on a regionally integrated basis, and to support establishment of integrated stewardship offices in each member Nation–a key element of which supported the crucial early phase that helped establish the Coastal Stewardship Network.

Logos on uniforms, flags, boats, and vehicles help announce the presence of Guardian Watchmen, supported by the Coastal Stewardship Network, in the territories of its member Nations. PHOTO COURTESY of Coastal First Nations / Sandra Thomson

“That was a pretty radical change,” remembers Hutton, who was hired as the Network’s first coordinator. Finally, Guardian Watchmen got uniforms, flags, and logos to display on trucks and boats to announce their presence and ensure resource users understand the legitimacy of their work. Essential groundwork on governance development, funding strategies, communications, and strategic planning could get done. A short documentary was produced to raise awareness and interest in the work of Coastal Guardian Watchmen.

To meet the Coastal Guardian Watchmen-identified need for training in conservation work, partnerships were struck with academia, including a long-running collaboration with the HAKAI INSTITUTE—which also provides space for annual Network gatherings and other meetings. The University of Victoria produced a FIELD GUIDE TO ENVIRONMENTAL LAW for use by Coastal Guardian Watchmen in the field. Watchmen programs, through the Network, worked with Northwest Community College and later Vancouver Island University to develop a highly successful FIRST NATIONS STEWARDSHIP TECHNICIANS TRAINING PROGRAM(more on this below). It delivers university-accredited training to Indigenous people for work as Guardian Watchmen, and in other stewardship and resource management-related jobs.

Stable funding from the endowment helped leverage funding from many other entities (see ‘Partners’ below) to realize another Coastal Guardian Watchmen-identified priority that was fleshed out in multiple community workshops and conferences between 2009 and 2011: a regional monitoring system (see ‘Getting a high-level view’, below). It also created an outreach and regional monitoring system coordinator position and a Stewardship Network coordinator position.

“That was the shift to [renaming the Coastal Guardian Watchmen Network as] the Coastal Stewardship Network—still focusing on the Guardians, but also bringing everyone in the stewardship office on board,” says Hutton. The name change took place in 2012. For Sterritt, the change also reflected the inherent right of Guardian Watchmen to go beyond “observe, record, and report”, and addressed an arbitrary separation of water and land in planning. “We went away from ‘Guardian Watchmen’ [to Coastal Stewardship Network] simply because it wasn’t just the watching. It wasn’t just fish,” he remembers. “It was looking after the whole thing. Stewardship of the whole territories was how everybody was looking at it.”

Garry Wouters, who served as Coastal First Nations’ Senior Policy Advisor during this period, elaborates: “Over a period of time, First Nations leadership really wants [Guardian Watchmen] to take over, legally, the enforcement of stewardship plans that are done in the conservancies, particularly,” he says, referring to the areas set aside for conservation by members of Coastal First Nations when the GREAT BEAR RAINFOREST was established.

In the meantime, the Coastal Stewardship Network continues to amplify the work of Guardian Watchmen from nine Nations, and their respective stewardship offices—involved in everything from research and training to evaluating and responding to land- and marine-use proposals from government and industry.

A Kitasoo/Xai’xais Guardian Watchman is on patrol, monitoring environmental conditions, helping to implement marine- and land-use plans and interacting with visitoris in the Great Bear Rainforest. PHOTO COURTESY of Coastal First Nations / Sandra Thomson

Key Challenges & How They Were Overcome

Overcoming doubts

According to Sterritt, proponents of nascent Guardian programs sometimes “get some pushback, because people don’t quite believe that you can actually do this.” To bring people on board, he’s brought them to see successful First Nations-operated projects—like the hatchery run by the Gitga’at in remote Hartley Bay. “We have people that have a Grade 5 education that are amazing hatchery managers,” says Sterritt. “We knew, because we’d done it before, that we could transfer all of the technology we needed over to any of our people, to do any job that has been done by DFO or anyone else in our territory.”

Reducing impact on trainees

The first iteration of Guardian Watchmen training required people to spend up to four months away from home. Guardians, who range in age from 18 to 50+, found it tough to be away from home and family responsibilities so long. Now training has been re-arranged into shorter modules that rotate around students’ communities. Hutton feels this benefits everyone, and the Network as a whole. Students spend less time away, and get to see other Nations’ territories. There’s been an “incredible development of personal relationships between people from different Nations,” observes Hutton, noting that technical and “Guardian-esque” people across Nations are now “relating to each other in a way they didn’t before.” Today, grads of the FIRST NATIONS STEWARDSHIP TECHNICIANS TRAINING PROGRAM get so much more than university credits and new and highly marketable technical skills. They come home inspired and enriched by new connections.

Road-testing training

Students appreciate in-class and scenario-based training, but find there’s no substitute for road-testing it—with real-time guidance. A one-on-one component now brings trainers out to communities to work alongside Guardians. Students benefit from instructor feedback and evaluation, and instructors can offer additional, place-specific recommendations to improve safety.

Getting a high-level view

With vast territories to care for, Network members saw the need for monitoring that was regional in scale, standardized, but also adaptive. They wanted better tools to collect and analyze coast-wide data, and to cooperatively monitor things important to all of them. Between 2009 and 2010, the Network developed and launched a regional monitoring system. It allows Guardian Watchmen and others involved in stewardship activities to use tablets in the field to collect data offline, feed it into a coast-wide system for deeper analysis, and learn from all member Nations in the Network. It’s recently undergone an independent review and upgrade.

Jana Kotaska, the Network’s current program manager, emphasizes that the Network “continually evolves” to keep pace with changes in data management, the internet, and broader developments in planning—like implementation of the Marine Plan Partnership for the North Pacific Coast. She says the hiring of a regional monitoring system coordinator has been pivotal. “The Nations now get regular reports [from the system coordinator], and they’re getting more ideas,” says Kotaska. “We’ve been having data going into the system for a long time. Having data coming out of the system and being used is huge—I feel like we’ve turned a corner on that.”

‘A Sight to Behold’

Innovations notwithstanding, the Coastal Stewardship Network’s ongoing challenges are significant. Vast territories to monitor, unceasing new pressures on them, and comparatively few staff can strain the best-made plans and budgets. And although provincial and federal governments embrace reconciliation in principle, enforcement and decision-making power are ongoing topics of negotiation.

Hutton says it’s easy to get so enmeshed in the day-to-day that you forget how far you’ve come. But the National Indigenous Guardians’ Gathering in Ottawa in Fall 2016 helped her remember. She says attendees there “look to the Guardian Watchmen programs of Coastal First Nations, and how they’ve been supported by the Coastal Stewardship Network. They see folks on the coast as leaders in that regard.”

Sterritt’s pride in the Guardian Watchmen, and the accomplishments of the Network more generally, is evident: “You’ll find in our communities that we’ve got some pretty qualified people who work for us, and that was the exact intent of it,” he says. “When I go out and see people flying the flag, monitoring the area, and making sure that everything is running properly … That really is quite a sight to behold. It really is our presence out there on the land and the water.”

Through the Coastal Stewardship Network, member Nations share data and experience to help them keep an eye on the big picture — including the keystone species — in the Great Bear Rainforest and Haida Gwaii. PHOTO COURTESY of Coastal First Nations / Phil Charles

Economic Outcomes

First Nations—especially those in more remote communities—participating in the coordinated stewardship staff training programs of the Coastal Stewardship Network realize economies-of-scale benefits, like lower training costs and access to a wider pool of skills. Participation in Guardian Watchmen activities and regular network meetings assists information-sharing among Nations, which enhances everyone’s decision-making with respect to management of economically valuable resources and engagement with industry. For example, Guardian Watchmen’s use of the cabin in Mussel Inlet supports protection of the FIORDLAND CONSERVANCY in KITASOO/XAI’XAIS First Nation territory from poaching and recreational over-use. This helps preserve the healthy ecosystem that is the economic basis of the Kitasoo/Xai’xais bear-viewing business at SPIRIT BEAR LODGE.

LEARN MORE about how First Nations are reaping economic benefits from conservation.

Social Outcomes

Between 2009 and 2012, investment in the Coastal Stewardship Network created two new full-time jobs: an outreach and regional monitoring system coordinator and a Stewardship Network coordinator. Investments to Coastal First Nation stewardship offices provided five full-time/seasonal jobs for Guardian Watchmen (all held by First Nations), and at least 9.5 months of full-time equivalent contract work shared among five contractors.

The Coastal Stewardship Network has grown considerably over the years. Today it supports nine First Nations with at least 70 permanent employment positions, 80% of which are held by First Nation members. These include 22 Guardian Watchmen jobs. Other stewardship positions include stewardship directors, GIS technicians, researchers, marine-use planning coordinators, and more.

The First Nations Stewardship Technicians Training Program created by the Coastal Stewardship Network in collaboration with Vancouver Island University imparts new technical skills (such as monitoring, data collection, communications, safety and rescue training), professional development opportunities, and university credits to Indigenous students, most of whom are employed as Coastal Guardian Watchmen by Coastal First Nation communities. Guardian Watchmen and other stewardship office staff also get additional training, and develop and enhance relationships, through regular Coastal Stewardship Network conference calls, meetings, workshops, and annual gatherings. LEARN MORE about First Nations’ investments in skills training.

Environmental Outcomes

By working together through the Network, member Nations are better positioned to effect positive change. The network brings together Guardian Watchmen and other stewardship staff from member Nations to develop relationships, collaborate, and learn from each other—thus expanding the breadth and depth of the member Nations’ environmental monitoring efforts. It supports a more regional, holistic approach to environmental monitoring and provides a venue in which First Nations can share concerns and solutions and collaborate on stewardship projects. The regional monitoring system developed between 2009 and 2012 has been refined and upgraded to improve utility both to Coastal Guardian Watchmen in the field and to other stewardship staff analyzing and using the regional data. Guardian Watchmen are now directly involved in implementation of regional plans, such as the MARINE PLAN PARTNERSHIP for the North Pacific Coast. LEARN MORE about GUARDIAN WATCHMEN PROGRAMS, and this example of the GITGA’AT GUARDIANS collaborating with researchers.

Cultural Outcomes

The time-honoured contribution of First Nations to stewardship is institutionalized through Coastal Guardian Watchmen positions in First Nation stewardship offices. Coastal Guardian Watchmen uniforms, flags, and logos on boats and vehicles, and brochures raise the profile of this role and current work across the coast. The greater visibility and monitoring work of Guardian Watchmen on the coast helps maintain the integrity of critical cultural resources, like cultural and sacred sites that can be vulnerable to theft or vandalism, culturally significant or endangered species like grizzly bears and abalone, and access to traditional foods that are vulnerable to poaching. Guardian Watchmen also collect valuable seasonal data for their Nations, such as when a traditional food is ready for harvesting, (as with the GITGA’AT NATION), and support traditional food use studies, as with the HEILTSUK NATION. Cultures are strengthened as member Nations enhance relationships with each other through the Network. A 12-minute documentary VIDEO ABOUT GUARDIAN WATCHMEN produced during this phase serves as an effective tool for recruiting Guardian Watchmen and raising awareness of the cultural significance of First Nations stewardship. LEARN MORE about First Nations’ stewardship work.

Coast Funds was created in 2007 out of mutual recognition by conservationists, First Nations, industry, and government that a sustainable economy is vital to conservation efforts in the Great Bear Rainforest and Haida Gwaii areas of British Columbia.

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Related Topics:British Columbia Coast Funds First Nations

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Aquacultures & Fisheries

What the Fish Are Telling Us About Marine Biodiversity and Ocean Health Around Tenerife

Tenerife sits in the eastern Atlantic like a crossroads. Positioned roughly 300 kilometres off the northwest coast of Africa, the island intersects the paths of the Canary Current, warm subtropical surface waters, and the deep cold upwellings of the Atlantic basin. The result is one of the most ecologically productive marine environments in the northern hemisphere, a place where bluefin tuna from the Mediterranean share waters with tropical reef species and migratory whales from the polar ocean. What lives in these waters, and how those populations are changing, tells us something important about the health of the broader Atlantic system.

The Anatomy of an Exceptional Marine Environment

The waters around Tenerife support approximately 400 species of fish, a number that reflects the unusual convergence of marine provinces that the island straddles. [1] Its seafloor topography is dramatic: the island drops away steeply from the coast, reaching oceanic depths within just a few kilometres of shore. This proximity of shallow coastal habitat to very deep water creates conditions that support both reef-associated species and the large pelagic predators of the open ocean, sometimes within sight of the same beach.

In the deeper offshore waters, the Canary Islands are internationally recognised as one of the finest big game fishing destinations in the world, and for good reason. Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) pass through in their thousands between December and April, migrating northward toward Mediterranean spawning grounds. These are not small fish. Individuals regularly exceed 250 kilograms, and the largest bluefin recorded in these waters approach 450 kilograms. [2] Their spring passage coincides with dense schools of Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus) and smaller baitfish that concentrate near the island, drawing the giants in from the open Atlantic.

Blue marlin (Makaira nigricans) and white marlin (Kajikia albida) are present from spring through autumn, the two billfish species that define Tenerife’s reputation among dedicated sport anglers. Spearfish (Tetrapturus belone) inhabit the deeper offshore trenches. Yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares), bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus), wahoo (Acanthocybium solandri), and mahi-mahi (Coryphaena hippurus) complete a pelagic assemblage that few locations outside the tropics can match. [2]

Closer to shore, the volcanic reef structures support a different community. Atlantic amberjack (Seriola dumerili), barracuda (Sphyraena viridensis), grouper (Epinephelus spp.), and European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) inhabit the rocky substrates, alongside numerous wrasse species, bream, and moray eels. The deeper sandy bottoms, where slow-jigging techniques are most effective, hold species less visible to tourists but central to local gastronomy: red porgy (Pagrus pagrus), sargo (Diplodus sargus), and various sparids that have been fished by Canarian communities for centuries. [3]

Reading the Signals: What Is Changing

The richness of this marine environment is not static, and the signals coming from the water are mixed. On one hand, the resident cetacean populations tell a story of relative stability. Whale Watch Tenerife, which has logged cetacean sightings systematically since 2018, recorded 17 different species in both 2018 and 2023, with short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus) and bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) present on nearly every survey day. [4] In 2025, orca sightings and encounters with fin whales were notable additions to the year’s record. [4] The continued presence of these apex predators is generally a positive indicator of ecosystem function.

On the other hand, the EU-funded OCEAN CITIZEN restoration project documented concerning trends at the base of the food web when it began its work on the island in 2024. Fish populations associated with rocky reef habitats have declined significantly compared to historical baselines. Seagrass meadows (Cymodocea nodosa), which serve as nurseries for juvenile fish and feeding grounds for sea turtles, have retreated across multiple coastal areas due to sedimentation, pollution, and rising water temperatures. Rocky reefs have been degraded by a combination of physical disturbance and the effects of ocean acidification. [5] These are not peripheral problems. Reef habitats and seagrass meadows are foundational to the productivity that ultimately supports the entire marine food web, from the smallest reef fish to the bluefin tuna and the pilot whales that hunt above them.

The Atlantic regulatory framework governing commercial fishing has also evolved. EU fisheries ministers, meeting in December 2025, set 2026 catch limits with 81 percent of total allowable catches in the northeast Atlantic at maximum sustainable yield levels — an improvement on previous years, though the failure to agree a mackerel quota for 2026 due to disputes with non-EU countries was a notable setback. [6] For sport and recreational fishing around Tenerife, a growing culture of catch and release has taken hold among charter operators, particularly for bluefin tuna, billfish, and other large pelagic species. Most reputable charters now apply mandatory release for bluefin tuna, reflecting both changing regulation and a shift in the values of visiting anglers. [3]

What the Fish Are Actually Telling Us

Marine ecosystems are exceptionally good at communicating ecological stress, if we know how to listen. The presence of 28 cetacean species, including year-round resident pilot whales, tells us that the deep-water food web west of Tenerife remains productive. The decline of reef fish populations and seagrass cover tells us that the shallower coastal zone is under sustained pressure from human activity. The continued migration of bluefin tuna past the island tells us that large-scale Atlantic management is beginning to take effect after decades of overfishing. The appearance of orcas and large baleen whales in 2025 tells us that the waters retain the biological richness to attract ocean wanderers from across the hemisphere.

Tenerife’s marine environment is neither pristine nor beyond recovery. It occupies a contested middle ground where genuinely exceptional natural heritage coexists with the pressures of one of Europe’s busiest tourist destinations. Paying attention to what lives here, in all its scientific specificity, is the first step toward deciding what kind of relationship the island will have with its sea.

Sources

Wikipedia: Tenerife — fauna and marine ecology
FishingBooker: Tenerife Fishing — The Complete Guide for 2026, fishingbooker.com, January 2026
FishingBooker: Canary Islands Fishing — The Complete Guide for 2026, fishingbooker.com
Whale Watch Tenerife: Tenerife Whale Watching Season — cetacean sighting data 2023-2025, whalewatchtenerife.org
OceanCitizen EU: Reclaiming Tenerife’s Ocean, oceancitizen.eu, September 2024
European Commission Oceans and Fisheries: Fisheries ministers agree fishing opportunities for 2026, December 2025, oceans-and-fisheries.ec.europa.eu

Art & Culture

A Nature Traveller’s Guide to Tenerife (With a 7-Day Itinerary)

south coast does exactly what it promises. But Tenerife is an island of extraordinary geographical and ecological variety, and the version of it visible from a resort terrace is perhaps the least representative of what the island actually is.

Tenerife is home to Spain’s highest mountain, three distinct rural parks, a UNESCO biosphere reserve of ancient laurel forest, villages perched at elevations above 1,400 metres, volcanic landscapes that look like the surface of Mars, and a western coastline of sheer black cliffs falling 600 metres into the Atlantic. It has colonial cities with 16th-century architecture, cave-dwelling communities, stargazing sites that rival professional observatories, and natural tidal pools carved into lava rock where locals have swum for generations, completely uninterested in tourism. The island has a population of around 930,000 people living real, varied lives, and understanding a little of that life makes a visit significantly richer.

This guide is for travellers who want more of that Tenerife.

Understanding the Island’s Geography

Getting oriented matters here, because the island’s regions are genuinely distinct and travelling between them takes time. The central volcanic massif, dominated by Mount Teide at 3,715 metres, divides the island climatically: the north is wetter, cooler, and dramatically green; the south is dry, sunny, and more arid. The three main rural areas — Anaga in the northeast, Teno in the northwest, and the Teide highlands in the centre — each offer a completely different landscape and character. A rental car is essential for exploring any of them independently, and it is worth noting that many mountain roads are narrow, steep, and genuinely demanding to drive.

Where to Stay: Choosing Your Base

The most interesting places to base yourself are not on the resort strip. Here are four alternatives worth considering.

La Laguna (northeast) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most beautiful colonial towns in the Atlantic islands. It was the original capital of Tenerife and its historic centre is a grid of 15th and 16th-century streets filled with carved wooden balconies, baroque churches, and a genuinely lively student population from the nearby university. Staying here puts you within easy reach of Anaga Rural Park and Santa Cruz, without sacrificing urban infrastructure. Hotel Laguna Nivaria, housed in a 16th-century mansion, is one of the finest small hotels on the island. 1

Garachico (northwest) was the most important port in the Canary Islands until the volcanic eruption of 1706 destroyed much of it and permanently altered the coastline. What remained was rebuilt thoughtfully, and today it is arguably the most architecturally coherent small town in Tenerife. The natural lava pools at El Caletón, formed in the same eruption that destroyed the port, are now a beloved public swimming area. Boutique Hotel San Roque, an 18th-century mansion facing the sea, and Hotel El Patio, a 16th-century farmhouse set in a 60-acre banana plantation, are both exceptional places to stay. 2

Vilaflor (central highlands) at 1,400 metres above sea level is the highest municipality in Spain, and sitting within it feels genuinely remote. Pine forest surrounds the village, the air smells of resin and altitude, and Teide National Park is just a short drive away. For travellers prioritising time in the volcano landscape, basing yourself here rather than driving up from the coast every day changes the experience entirely.

Anaga villages (northeast) — in particular Taganana, the oldest agricultural settlement in Tenerife, set in a steep valley running down to a black-sand beach — offer a different kind of immersion. Accommodation here is small-scale and basic, but the location inside the biosphere reserve, with walking trails directly from the door, is hard to match.

The Three Landscapes You Must Understand

Teide National Park and the Volcanic Interior

Teide is the obvious centrepiece, and it deserves its reputation. The national park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most visited natural sites in the world, but it is large enough that you can find solitude if you walk beyond the car parks. The caldera, known as Las Cañadas, is a 17-kilometre wide depression formed by the collapse of a previous volcanic edifice, and the landscape within it — lava rivers, ash plains, volcanic cones in shades of ochre and rust, and the extraordinary Roques de García rock formation — is unlike anything else in Europe. 3

The summit of Teide itself requires a permit to access the final 200 metres to the crater rim; permits are free but must be reserved well in advance through the national park website. The Telesforo Bravo trail, when an entry permit is obtained, is one of the most extraordinary hikes on the island, ascending through multiple volcanic zones. For those without a summit permit, the trail around Roques de García is an accessible and genuinely beautiful alternative, taking roughly ninety minutes and offering Teide in full view throughout.

After sunset, the altitude and absence of light pollution make Teide one of the finest stargazing locations in the northern hemisphere. The Mirador de Llano de Ucanca and the Portillo area are good spots for amateur stargazing; guided telescope tours depart from various operators in the park. 4

Anaga Rural Park: The Ancient Forest

Anaga is, in a very literal sense, one of the oldest living things in Europe. The laurisilva — the laurel forest — that covers much of this UNESCO biosphere reserve is a relic of the subtropical forests that covered much of southern Europe and North Africa before the Pleistocene ice ages. When those forests vanished from the continent, pockets survived in the Canary Islands, Madeira, and the Azores. Walking through Anaga’s mist-covered ridges and moss-draped trees is not merely walking through an old forest; it is walking through a landscape that has not fundamentally changed in millions of years. 5

The trails here range from gentle ridgeline walks with Atlantic views in both directions to more demanding descents into the deep barrancos (ravines) that separate the Anaga massif’s many ridges. The trail from Punta de Hidalgo up to the cave village of Chinamada — where several families still live in traditional cave houses carved into the hillside, some of them inhabited for centuries — is one of the most culturally and scenically rewarding hikes on the island. The coastal walk from the hamlet of Benijo to the Faro de Anaga lighthouse and back through Chamorga is longer and more demanding but offers one of the most remote feelings achievable in Tenerife. 6

The Cruz del Carmen visitor centre, at the main road through the park, is a useful orientation point and has staff who can advise on trail conditions.

The Teno Massif: Cliffs, Gorges, and Masca

The Teno Rural Park in the island’s northwest corner is geologically the oldest part of Tenerife, and it looks it — angular, layered, deeply eroded by millennia of wind and rain. The main road through the Teno mountains to the village of Masca is one of the most dramatic drives in Spain: a single-lane road that clings to cliffsides above thousand-metre drops, with a viewpoint that looks out across the Atlantic toward La Gomera.

Masca itself is a small village of stone houses that seems to cling to the mountainside by force of will. It has become increasingly popular in recent years, and an early start is strongly recommended to avoid the worst of the crowds. From Masca, the descent into the Barranco de Masca gorge to the black-sand beach at its base is one of the island’s iconic hikes, though it requires an advance permit and careful planning; boat collection from the beach rather than the return ascent is the standard approach. 7

Elsewhere in the Teno, the Chinyero Special Nature Reserve protects the site of the last volcanic eruption on Tenerife, which took place in 1909. The lava fields here are still raw and largely unvegetated, and the circular trail around the Chinyero cone gives a visceral sense of the island’s ongoing geological life. 8

Cultural Touchstones

Outside of nature, several experiences offer genuine insight into Canarian culture. La Laguna’s historic centre merits at least half a day of unhurried walking — the cathedral, the convents, the narrow streets of the Casco Histórico, and the Aguere cultural space. La Orotava, a town in the Orotava Valley on the northern slope of Teide, has some of the finest examples of traditional Canarian architecture anywhere in the islands: carved pine balconies, stone mansions, cobbled streets. The Casa de los Balcones is the most visited building in the town, though the whole historic centre is worth wandering. The valley below, filled with banana and potato terraces and still farmed in traditional strips, is a reminder that Tenerife had a complex agricultural life before tourism arrived.

The Drago Milenario in Icod de los Vinos — a Dracaena draco, or dragon tree, estimated to be between 500 and 1,000 years old — is one of the botanical landmarks of the Atlantic islands. The species is endemic to the Canary Islands and Madeira and was sacred to the indigenous Guanche people; its red sap was known as dragon’s blood and had ceremonial and medicinal uses. The tree in Icod is the largest specimen known. 9

For an encounter with the island’s pre-Hispanic past, the Pyramids of Güímar in the east of the island are a genuinely puzzling site: six stepped pyramidal structures of uncertain origin, oriented to the solstice sun. They were brought to international attention by the explorer Thor Heyerdahl, who believed them to be of pre-Columbian significance. The on-site museum presents multiple interpretive perspectives with appropriate caution.

Suggested 7-Day Itinerary

This itinerary is designed to move through the island’s distinct regions at a pace that allows genuine engagement with each. A rental car is essential throughout.

Day 1 — Arrive, La Laguna Check in to La Laguna. Spend the afternoon walking the historic centre. Evening in the city’s restaurant and bar scene.

Day 2 — Anaga Rural Park Full day in Anaga. Morning: drive the Anaga mountain road with stops at viewpoints above Taganana and the Cruz del Carmen visitor centre. Afternoon: hike the Punta de Hidalgo to Chinamada trail (roughly 4 hours round trip, moderate difficulty). Return to La Laguna.

Day 3 — Santa Cruz, then drive north to Garachico Morning in Santa Cruz: the Tenerife Auditorium, the Mercado Nuestra Señora de África, and the seafront. Early afternoon: drive to Garachico (roughly 1 hour). Check in. Explore the town and swim at El Caletón tidal pools before sunset.

Day 4 — Teno Massif and Masca Early start. Drive the Teno road to Masca (arrive before 9am). Walk the Barranco de Masca if booked in advance, exiting by boat; otherwise explore the village and hike the Santiago del Teide to Masca ridge trail. Afternoon: Chinyero lava field walk.

Day 5 — Drive south via La Orotava, ascend to Vilaflor Morning in La Orotava: Casa de los Balcones, the old town, the valley viewpoints. Drive through Icod de los Vinos to see the Drago Milenario. Continue south and upward to Vilaflor. Check in to local accommodation. Evening: early night ahead of Teide day.

Day 6 — Teide National Park Full day in the park. Morning: Roques de García circuit (1.5 hours). If summit permit held: Telesforo Bravo ascent. Afternoon: explore the caldera floor. Stay until after dark for stargazing at Mirador de Llano de Ucanca.

Day 7 — Anaga coast or rest day, return Optional: drive to Taganana for a walk down to the beach, or return to La Laguna for a last morning in the city. Depart.

Sources

The Hotel Guru: Best Places to Stay in Tenerife, thehotelguru.com; Hotel Laguna Nivaria listing
Secret Places: Boutique Hotels Garachico, secretplaces.com; Hotel El Patio and Boutique Hotel San Roque
Our Wanders: Best Day Hikes in Tenerife, ourwanders.com, March 2026
Tenerife Excursions: Tenerife — stunning nature between Teide, Anaga, and unique landscapes, escursionitenerife.com, October 2025
Hiking Fex: Tenerife Hiking — 30 most beautiful hikes, hikingfex.com, September 2025
Moon Honey Travel: Hiking Tenerife Mountains, moonhoneytravel.com
Charlies Wanderings: The 7 Very Best Hikes in Tenerife, charlieswanderings.com, August 2025
Our Wanders: Best Day Hikes in Tenerife — Chinyero section, ourwanders.com
Let Y Go: Itinerary of the 6 Little-Known Villages of Tenerife — Icod de los Vinos section, letygoeson.it, July 2025

Feature Destination

Is It Safe to Swim in Tenerife? A 2026 Guide to Beach Water Quality and Coastal Pollution

The question visitors to Tenerife are increasingly asking before they book is one that would have seemed unusual a few years ago: is the water actually safe to swim in? It is a fair and important question, and one that deserves a straightforward, evidence-based answer rather than either alarming exaggeration or reassuring dismissal. The situation is genuinely complicated, varies significantly by location and season, and is in the middle of a politically charged response from local and national authorities.

The Scale of the Pollution Problem

The water quality crisis affecting parts of Tenerife is not a tabloid invention. In late 2025, the Court of Justice of the European Union formally condemned Spain for failing to comply with the EU’s Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive, identifying at least 12 specific locations on Tenerife where sewage collection, treatment, and discharge into coastal waters was either inadequate or entirely absent. [1] This followed years of documented failures. Environmental analysis cited by campaigners estimated that approximately 57 million litres of wastewater are discharged into Canary Islands seas every day, equivalent in volume to around 17 Olympic swimming pools. [2]

The consequences became impossible to ignore in 2024 and 2025. Playa Jardín, a well-known black-sand beach in Puerto de la Cruz on the island’s north coast, was closed for almost a year after E. coli levels in the water significantly exceeded safe limits. Investigations revealed fractured discharge pipes, pumping stations operating without legal authorisation, and a wastewater treatment plant that had gone years without the mandatory inspections and repairs. [3] In August 2025, the Public Prosecutor’s Office took the unusual step of charging six officials — including a former mayor of Puerto de la Cruz and the island’s former Tourism Department head — with environmental negligence and mismanagement of public infrastructure. [3]

The Spanish environmental NGO Ecologistas en Acción, which publishes an annual “Black Flag” report ranking the worst-managed coastal zones in Spain, awarded black flags to both Playa Jardín and Puertito de Adeje in its 2025 edition. [4] Puertito de Adeje, on the island’s southwest coast, was flagged not for E. coli but for what the organisation described as poor management in relation to new luxury coastal development and an underwater garden project that critics argue threatens endangered marine species. [4]

Storm events have made the underlying infrastructure problems dramatically visible. When Storm Claudia brought heavy rainfall in November 2025, drainage systems in Garachico and Las Américas were overwhelmed, sending wet wipes, oils, and other debris onto the shore. Beachgoers in Las Américas reported finding white, greasy masses on the sand, which chemists explained as the product of soaps and oils in wastewater reacting when pushed out to sea. [5] The Canary Islands government’s own discharge register, updated in 2025, recorded 403 coastal discharge points across the archipelago, with more than half operating without full authorisation. [1]

The Response: €81 Million and a 2030 Target

In February 2026, Tenerife’s Island Council formally presented an €81 million infrastructure plan designed to address these failures over a four-year period running through 2030. The plan covers modernising outdated wastewater networks, increasing treatment capacity, preventing unauthorised coastal discharges, and improving coordination between the island’s municipalities, which have historically operated fragmented and sometimes incompatible sanitation systems. [6] Vice President Lope Afonso framed the initiative around a “zero waste” ambition and called on all local municipalities to participate in the 2027-2030 Cooperation Plan. [6]

The plan has been welcomed cautiously by environmental groups. The Tenerife Association of Friends of Nature (ATAN), which was among the first organisations to raise public alarms about the contamination crisis in early 2026, has called for more transparency about the actual scale of coastal pollution and demanded that tourists be given honest information about water quality at specific beaches rather than generic reassurances. [1] This tension between the island’s economic dependence on tourism and the imperative to communicate environmental problems honestly is not going away quickly.

Where Is It Actually Safe to Swim?

The water quality situation varies significantly across Tenerife’s coastline, and not all beaches are affected equally. The problems documented in official reports are concentrated primarily in the north of the island, around Puerto de la Cruz and parts of the northeast coast, and in specific southern locations where infrastructure has struggled to keep pace with resort development.

The southern resort strip between Los Cristianos and Costa Adeje generally maintains higher water quality, supported by more recently built sanitation infrastructure and EU Blue Flag certification at several beaches. Blue Flag status, awarded annually by the Foundation for Environmental Education, requires compliance with strict water quality testing, environmental management standards, and safety requirements — making it the most reliable indicator of consistently clean swimming water available to visitors. [7]

Practical guidance for 2026 visitors: check the current flag status at your specific beach on arrival, not the status from a previous season. Red flag means swimming is forbidden, regardless of the reason. Avoid swimming within 48 hours of heavy rainfall anywhere on the island, as storm runoff affects even beaches that are generally well managed. The north coast, including the Puerto de la Cruz area, carries higher current risk than the southwest. Beaches within the southern resort area with active Blue Flag certification — including Playa de Troya, Playa del Duque, and Las Vistas in Los Cristianos — are your safest options while the infrastructure improvements work their way through the system.

Looking Ahead

Tenerife’s coastal pollution crisis is real, but it is being taken seriously in a way it was not a few years ago. EU legal pressure, criminal charges against officials, a significant funding commitment, and genuine civic pressure from environmental organisations have combined to produce a political response with specific targets and timelines. Whether that response is adequate, and whether it moves fast enough to protect both public health and the island’s reputation, is a question that will be answered in the coming years.

What is certain is that the era of uncritical optimism about Tenerife’s beach water quality is over. Visitors deserve accurate information, and the island’s long-term interests as a destination are better served by honest communication than by silence.

Sources

BritBrief: Health alert for Canary Islands — tourists warned about beach water pollution, britbrief.co.uk, January 2026
National World: Warning to avoid 48 Black Flag beaches in Spain, nationalworld.com, June 2024
DaNews.eu: Prosecutor charges six officials over pollution at Playa Jardín in Tenerife, August 2025
Travel Tomorrow: Tenerife set to invest €81 million to clean up island’s coastline and reputation, traveltomorrow.com, February 2026
Canarian Weekly: Waste and pollution wash up on Tenerife’s coastline again, canarianweekly.com
Travel and Tour World: Tenerife Plans to Invest Eighty Million Euros in Overhauling Water and Sanitation Infrastructure, travelandtourworld.com, February 2026
Curious Expeditions: Is the sea clean in Tenerife?, curiousexpeditions.org, March 2026