Where 500 metre high cliffs stand shoulder to shoulder into the horizon, and the north and west coasts of Tenerife dovetail together, Punta de Teno imposes itself on the landscape. I felt envious of the osprey that soar and nest in the folds of the cliffs. Even at ground level there´s plenty to admire, it is still a living part of the island with fishermen well versed in the unpredictable currents of the sea.

Easing into my visit, chugging up a tight single file mountain road, Far below breaking waves lapped at the Buenavista del Norte golf course and a pristine stretch of shingle beach. On one of the first days of the 2021 summer season of the 369 Titsa bus, I gazed forward as the road  seemed to hit mid air. The inside rock face was being kept in check by heavy duty steel fencing and pins embedded by pile drivers. Punta de Teno was the destination beauty at the end of this magnificent beast of an incline, and worth my preceeding 460 bus ride from Adeje to Icod, and a short coastal change past Garachico and Los Silos in Buenavista del Norte.

The partial collapse of the mountain link road in 2016 led to restrictions on the rebuilt access. A manned barrier allows a few people through including the bus during July, August, and Septenber. A mere one euro each way secures the 460 ride, a Ten Mas plastic pre paid card or its mobil app version is alo acceptable, but not the residents and OAPs tickets. Cyclists were also sharing our temporary immersion in a long dark tunnel on part of the upper route.

Fisherman have access to their fleet, a dozen boats were sheltered at the back of the small Teno beach, and an equal number were out riding the waves just beyond a scattering of bathers. The lighthouse  stood guard where the conflicting currents came together. Even with a green flag and guards in attendance, the exposed waters outside the bay are worthy of the utmost respect. Farolgists love to study our candy striped friends, this sample dates back to 1897 and is a very reassuring prescence.

At the western side of the bay, the modern holiday hire Casablanca is a strange anomoly but may have been updated from an old and more modest farmhouse. The paths through the old lava deposits meander to other vantage points but the potential dangers are there at every step. just a short distance from the drop off and pick up point, its easy to feel the isolation that spans the centurys. A view down the line of cliffs conjours up Masca and beyond Some hardy souls swim from Teno to Los Gigantes in the Travesia race once a year.  However you view this corner of Isla Bajo, it always stirs a new respect for nature.