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The naturist section of La Tejita beach appears to be the only well organized and popular naturist beach in the proper sense of the word on the whole Tenerife.
 

La Tejita [pronounced in Spanish, Lah-Tehkhee-tah] beach is located in the island South, immediately to the West of Montaña Roja [Montah-nya Ro-khah] mountain and at about 2 km to the West of El Médano [Ehl-Meh-dahnaw] town. La Tejita is the longest (about 1.5 km) and widest (100–300 m) sand beach on Tenerife. La Tejita and the neighbouring El Médano beach on the other side of Montaña Roja are the only natural beaches on the island composed of a thin and soft light-yellow sand; one of the hypotheses as of the beaches’ origin suggests that the sand has been brought by winds from Sahara across the Atlantic.

La Tejita beach and Montaña Roja

View of La Tejita beach from the top of Montaña Roja

Unlike most of the Tenerife coastal line with steep slopes and cliffs coming directly down to the Ocean, La Tejita beach adjoins a wide gently slanting plain, with only the solitary rocky volcanic cupola of Montaña Roja projected deep into the sea. The place is open to winds from all directions. That is why the nearby El Médano town and its beach is one of the most favoured places among the windsurfers coming up here from all around the world. A typically windy, though sunny, weather may not be very comfortable for bathing and sunbathing at times. However the whole La Tejita beach, and particularly its easternmost part coming directly under the Montaña Roja cliffs, is more protected from the prevailing Eastern winds than El Médano itself. There are parking lots opposite either end of La Tejita beach on the road connecting the towns El Médano and Los Abrigos [pronounced: Laws Ahbree-ghaws] which goes parallel to the coast at a distance of about 500 m, and a bus stop is in the middle. The territory between the road and the ocean shore, together with the El Médano and La Tejita beaches and the Montaña Roja mountain, is a protected natural reserve where no driving by car is permitted.

On the beach itself there is hammock rentals at the both ends of the beach. The best organized and most "populated" beach section immediately adjoining Montaña Roja is equipped with umbrellas and has a small kiosk trading in drinks and snacks. The end of this "civilized" part of La Tejita makes the naturist section separated from the rest of the beach by a small rock outcrop barrier. It is in this section of the sand beach, some 100 m-long and 20 m-wide, where one can find the largest concentration of nude sunbathers on Tenerife.

"Organized" section of  La Tejita beach

The naturist section behind the barrier

The whole number of beach patrons during my few visits to La Tejita was somewhere within one hundred. The ratio of locals to foreign tourists was roughly 1:1, the latter being mostly Germans and English, as everywhere on Tenerife, though I heard the French, Dutch/Flemish and Russian speech as well. The ratio of males to females was about 2:1, as it seems to be typical of the naturist beaches in all the countries; up to 20% of the sunbathers remained clothed even in this beach area specifically designated for naturists (I never stop wondering: why such people would be purposely coming to naturist beaches).

Beside the naturist section proper, naked sunbathers of the both sexes may be occasionally met all along the 1.5 km-long La Tejita beach. The number of people on the whole beach seems to never exceed a few hundred all in all, so the sunbathers are scattered rather rarely over the spacious stripe of sand, the distance between the nearest neighbours being in tens of meters in the least. Hence one’s nakedness does not bother anyone and causes no complaints. Moreover, some people are not only resting on sand and bathing, but also take a pleasure of walking naked over the surf line all along the 1.5 km-long beach stretch, which again raises no one’s protests or displeasure. But, reciprocally to the designated naturist area, the number of naturists on the open part of La Tejita beach does not exceed some 10–15% (not counting topless females). La Tejita beach can be easily accessed by road, by route bus No 470 from either Los Christianos and Playa de las Américas or from the bus stops at the nearest exits from the Southern Highway (Autopista del Sur, in Spanish). One also can come just by foot from the town El Médano over nice paths across the isthmus connecting the Montaña Roja mountain with the coastal plain.

Naturist section of La Tejita beach

Getting there (more detailed description): By road: Road TF-643 connecting the towns Los Abrigos and El Médano passes at 0.5 km from La Tejita beach. Parking lots distanced about 1 km from one another are located opposite the two ends of the beach. A closer access to the coast by car is not permitted: it as a natural reserve area. One can get to the TF-643 road from either end, by taking Exit 22 from the Southern Highway (Autopista del Sur, in Spanish) TF-1 onto road TF-64 in the direction of El Médano, or Exit 24 onto road TF-65 in the direction of Los Abrigos. The distance to La Tejita from the Northern end of Playa de las Américas resort area (Playa Fañabé) is about 30 km, from Los Christianos, roughly 20 km, and from the Tenerife capital Santa Cruz at the Eastern end of the island, 55 km. By bus: Bus No 470 from Playa de las Américas to Granadilla passes over TF-643 road at 500 m from the beach once an hour in either direction. The bus stop is opposite the middle of the beach between the two parking lots, across a small townhouse complex. Bus drivers usually would not refuse stopping the bus by the parking lots too, if requested. The traveling time from the bus terminus in the Northern part of Playa de las Américas (crossing of Avenida Bruselas and Avenida Paris, opposite "Isla Bonita" hotel, is 1 h 15 min. The bus goes through the whole Playa de las Américas area till Los Christianos, and one can take it at any stop. The bus ride takes so much time because on leaving Los Christianos the bus does not go on a straight route, but drops to other seaside towns: Las Galletas, Costa del Silencio and Golf del Sur, before going for Los Abrigos and El Médano. Thus one may be advised rather to take the highway bus No 111 from Playa de las Américas bound for Santa Cruz, and then catch bus No 470: either one going back to Playa de las Américas at Granadilla crossing (cruce Granadilla, in Spanish, pronounced [croo–seh Grahnahdee–lyah]), or one bound for Granadilla at San Miguel crossing (cruce San Miguel, pronounced [croo–seh Sahn-Meeghehl]). The interval on the Route 111 is 30 min. Like No 470, it departs from "Isla Bonita" hotel in the North of Playa de las Américas area, passes Torviscas, San Eugenio, and then Bus Station in the upper part of Playa de las Américas, whence it goes directly to Los Christianos bypassing the lower parts of Playa de las Américas: Las Verónicas and Los Morritos. Click on the map to open it full size By foot from El Médano: If you are staying at El Médano, or decided to just drop in there, e.g., to have a cup of coffee before or after the beach, it is a pleasant 20–25 minutes’ walk from the centre of El Médano to the naturist section of La Tejita. First walk to the right along the seaside promenade at El Médano, come down to the beach, and then turn to the right onto one of the footpaths (with borders marked by pieces of rock) across a low isthmus connecting Montaña Roja with the mainland plain. One also can take a fancy of climbing the Montaña Roja summit once: it is only 171 m-high, and coming up there won’t take more than half an hour, but you will be rewarded by an excellent view from atop. One can reach El Médano by road TF-64 or TF-643, and by bus No 470, as described above. In addition, there is bus No 116 from Santa Cruz to Granadilla passing El Médano. The interval on this route is 2 hours, and one also can catch this bus at Granadilla crossing at the Southern Highway.