Paisaje Rambla de Castro

Natural protected area, that takes your breath away 

The Rambla de Castro is, as I would say, like a pearl of Tenerife. It is located in the northern part of the island, to the west of Puerto de La Cruz and belongs to the municipality of Los Realejos.

When I planned to visit this place for the first time I was thinking I am just gonna see a certain waterfall on the beach. BUT, I did not expect at all what this reservation hides. 

The journey begins at the Mirador de San Pedro (see photo below) and ends with a view of the ruined and abandoned house of La Gordejuela. This Mirador (viewpoint), where there is also a restaurant, for those who would like to refresh themselves before the trip, offers a view of large banana plantations and the endless ocean. 

So we enjoyed the view and hit the road. There are two paths down and it's up to you to choose which one to go ... they both meet at a point in a signpost, where you have to decide where to go next. The trail is easy, dusty and lined with millions of palm trees. On the already mentioned path, we can first turn right and go check out what is hidden behind the arrow called "Madre de agua" - translated as Mother of Water. There the journey ends at a certain point and you have to go back where you came from. That's why I recommend going there first.

The second option is to turn left and start a steeper way down, which leads over a few wooden bridges to the beautiful beach of Playa de Castro. That was our final destination that day and we spent some time there. The beach is endowed with two waterfalls, black shimmering sand and a cave.

For active people, who did not just come to chill on the beach, there is a third option. Continue along the dusty road up along the rocky shore while enjoying the beautiful views where on it´s end the house of La Gordejuale to be found.

Since I spent my first visit to this beautiful place only down on the beach, I had to come here again another day and explore the whole trail. 

So this time we don't go down to the beach, but continue on a path lined with palm trees. Because we got hungry after a while, we had a snack upstairs, directly overlooking the mentioned beach with waterfalls. And what surprised us in the first minutes? A flock of hungry lizards, of which there are countless on the island. They really are a symbol of the Canary Islands for a reason. If you have a little patience and remain calm, lizards will come to steal a bite right from your hands. The chips were okey, but the most tasty for them was a pieces of banana. That was a fight! (Video below).

After saturating all the hungry stomachs, we set out to find the already mentioned ruins rising from the cliff, which was visible along the way for a while from a distance. The road stretched along the cliffs and was longer than expected. We continue along the paved paths up and down and over wooden bridges ... peace, nature and the noise of the ocean everywhere. But our destination still nowhere.  

Suddenly we come to the gate on a cliff, behind which stretches the path down the stone steps, ending at the ruins of La Gordejuela, which was a view to the right of the gate. Unfortunately, it is not possible to go down freely - the gate and warning signs, what all can happen to you downstairs, speak for themselves. However, despite the ban, a lot of people find the way down. 

We enjoyed the view, took some photos... like millions and went to the nearest town of El Tostal to look for a way home.

Tips for you

• Be sure to plan this trip for the whole day to visit this trail, as it is a relatively long walk full of palm trees and views.

•  Bring enough food and drink, there is no possibility to buy it anywhere along the way and the restaurant on the starting viewpoint is quite expensive. (P.S. : Don't forget the lizards, they are hungry too.) 

• I surely recommend sports shoes, the road is dusty sometimes rocky and in some places quite steep. (descent to the beach)

• If you want to go only to the ruins of Gordeguela - the closest way is from the town of El Tostal. 

• Guachinche El Pino is a very popular restaurant in El Tostal - I recommend if you want to taste typical Canarian cuisine.