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- Apr 22, 2025, 7:50 AM
- ☁️ 63 °F
- Altitude: Sea level
SpainSanta Cruz de Tenerife28°28’18” N 16°14’31” W
Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain

We are back to driving on the right side of the road, which seems completely wrong after driving on the laft side for the last three months. We are in Tenerife, the largest of the Canary islands, and part of Spain.
Today's adventure was whale watching! Whooohoooo! This area is a known hotspot for whales of all kinds, including sperm whales (Moby Dick, here we come!), short-finned pilot whales, and Bryde's whales. Also, it is on the migration path of humpback and blue whales. So far on our long ocean voyage, we have had no luck at all.
This morning, we climbed aboard a bus and headed down to Puerto Colón pier, around an hour and a half south of south of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, where our ship was docked. There, we boarded our catamaran and headed out to sea. The water was extremely clear and a very vibrant blue. A half hour into the cruise, we saw short finned pilot whales! These are toothed whales and are smaller than orca, larger than belugas. They were "loafing," which means that they were resting near and on the surface after a long night of hunting their favorite food, giant squid. There were pods of them all around us. Some of them got quite close to us. We floated around for an hour, quietly observing these beautiful creatures, then headed in towards a bay to anchor.
On the way to the Bay, lunch was served. It was Spanish rice with chicken and fresh bread, sangria, and a piece of honeyed almond dessert. When we anchored, we were invited to take a swim. The water was very cold, and only two brave souls tried it out. They were in the water for seven minutes and came back aboard.
The coast where we were is a resort area, with resorts, hotels and condos everywhere along the coast and climbing up the sides of the mountains. It was very interesting to see the black sand beaches (the Canary islands are volcanic) right next to imported sand beaches, which were a tan color. The sand is shipped over from the Sahara dessert.
We returned to the pier, climbed aboard our bus, and headed back to the ship. We would have liked another day here so we could have explored the island itself, but it was a beautiful day and a wonderful experience.
¡Salud! Cheers!Read more
Traveler
I know I am jealous now! 😀