Tenerife is a renowned party island, as anybody who’s ever spent a night larging their way along the Veronica's strip will attest.

However, beyond lively Playa de las Americas, this Spanish island is also hugely popular with families seeking year-round sunshine with a child-friendly flight time.

Tenerife is scarcely a four-hour hop from the UK or, to put it in parenting terms, short enough to ensure the iPad battery won’t die on the plane.

Many families opt to stay in Costa Adeje which is only the next resort along the coast from las Americas but feels a universe away from all those Club 18-30 frolics.

While enjoying the same reliably warm, dry south coast weather as its naughtier neighbour, Adeje’s hotels and attractions tend to be far more family focused.

You don’t need to spend your entire holiday in the same couple of square miles either, if just flopping on a pool lounger while the kids splash about doesn’t appeal.

Tenerife’s volcanic interior and beautiful green north coast can both be reached in an hour or so by car or bus from Costa Adeje, making the island easy to explore without too many wails of ‘are we nearly there yet?’ Here’s what to see and do with children while you’re there.

Take a detour to Thailand

Siam park siam beach (
Image:
Tenerife Tourist Board)

Siam Park in Costa Adeje has been voted the best waterpark in the world by TripAdvisor , and it’s easy to see why.

For starters, the Thai-inspired landscaping makes it all rather beautiful to look at, with most of the flumes and pipes hidden away behind lush foliage.

That doesn’t mean the rides are tamer than average though. If you’re feeling particularly daring, there’s the terrifying Tower of Power which sends you on a near-vertical plunge through a shark tank.

Before you even get to any of the rides, there’s a gorgeous white sand ‘beach’ and turquoise lagoon which looks more Phuket than Canary Islands.

The hugely entertaining wave machine cranks up for the final 20 minutes of every hour, bar the one right before closing time.

Younger kids will also enjoy The Lost Kingdom, a whopper of a splash zone with slides, water guns and giant dunking bucket.

Parents, meanwhile, will enjoy taking a breather on the deckchairs and surreptitiously checking Facebook on the free wifi.

Watch out for whales

Whale watching (
Image:
Tenerife Tourist Board)

Puerto Colon marina in Costa Adeje is the place to pick up a boat trip to spot the whales that live just off the coast.

There are various itineraries and timings, depending on whether you want to add in lunch or a snorkelling detour with turtles in a local bay.

Whichever option you choose, the whales seem obligingly reliable at showing up as they tend to hang around the fish farms not far off shore.

If you have younger kids who are more at the paddling than swimming in the sea stage, the two-hour trip run by Eden Catamarans is a good bet. (Prices from €22.40 per adult, €14 per child).

The boat heads about three miles out to sea, giving you a fabulous view of the island with Mount Teide rising up on the horizon. Drinks are included as you wait for the whales to pop their heads up.

Go north to the zoo

Loro parque aves (
Image:
Tenerife Tourist Board)

It’s about an hour’s drive to get to the north coast of the island but it’s worth venturing out to see the lush, green side of Tenerife. And it doesn’t get much lusher or greener than inside the gates of Loro Parque zoo .

Loro is Spanish for parrot and you can expect to see a lot of exotic birds here, from adorable newborns in incubators and colourful free-flying birds in the new Katandra Treetops walk-through aviary to the clever Pollys starring in the parrot show.

The parrot show is a must-see: feathered stars drink 'beer', play hide and seek and even go on some daring adventures.

This spectacle runs six times a day and your kids will still be giggling about the zip-lining parrot for weeks afterwards.

Other highlights include dolphins, orca whales, gorillas and a huge colony of emperor penguins that stand grandly under snow flurries as you glide past their icy home on a moving walkway. It’s a really memorable day out, with something for all ages.

Have a meal with a view

Brunellis (
Image:
Lynne Hyland)

While you’re at Loro Parque, get your hand stamped for re-entry at lunchtime then head out of the park to nearby Brunelli’s .

From the outside this new steakhouse isn’t much to look at but inside, stretching across the entire back wall, is an enormous floor-to-ceiling moveable window that lowers to give a spectacular view over the wild Atlantic coast.

The meat, matured in rather sci-fi looking cabinets, and cooked in a 800-degree oven is equally impressive. (And yes, you can still have your steak rare).

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Image:
Tenerife Tourist Board)

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Brunellis view (
Image:
Lynne Hyland)

You can’t leave Tenerife without trying the local seafood either, particularly when it’s paired with the island’s signature salty ‘wrinkled potatoes’, or papas arrugada.

They usually come dolloped with mojo verde, a delicious coriander-infused sauce.

Seafood restaurant Masia del Mar back in Costa Adeje comes highly recommended and, being perched on a rocky headland, is no slouch in the sea view stakes either.

Stargaze on a volcano

OBSERVACION DE LAS ESTRELLAS (
Image:
Tenerife Tourist Board)

When you fly into Tenerife, there’s a collective cricking of necks as everyone cranes for a better look at Mount Teide, the volcano that dominates the island’s landscape.

It’s about an hour’s drive from Costa Adeje if you then want to check it out at ground level during your holiday.

The big draw is the cable car that takes you to Teide’s summit, soaring high above the rocky, rust-red landscape of the national park.

If you prefer to spend your days by the pool, you can also visit Teide in the evening and combine the trip with a spot of stargazing.

Teide cable car (
Image:
Tenerife Tourist Board)

The national park is one of the best places in the world to gaze into a truly jet-black night sky and see the stars in a way you never could at home.

If your kids are 12 or older, Teide By Night runs a sunset and stargazing excursion, which whisks you up and away on the cable car as night falls.

After the grown-ups have saluted the sunset with cava, there’s dinner and a guided tour of the galaxy from an astronomer.

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Image:
Tenerife Tourist Board)

Top tips:

If you’ve every had the misfortune of waiting (and waiting) for a delayed flight at the end of a family holiday, you’ll know it’s the ultimate buzzkill.

As insurance policies go, you could do a lot worse than booking into the family-friendly VIP lounge at Tenerife Airport which has wifi, food and drink - including a fridge of possibly much-needed booze - plus views over the runway as you stare hopefully for your plane to show up.

You can book it through Holiday Extras and it’s one of the rare occasions where you’ll be delighted if you don't get maximum value for money from it.

Where to stay:

We stayed at Iberostar Las Dalias , a four star family resort in Costa Adeje.

Iberostar buffet (
Image:
Lynne Hyland)

This four-star all-inclusive has everything children could possibly want – by which we mean slushie machines, arcade, pools, chocolate fountain with all-you-can-dip sweeties and a kids’ club - the latter which is free.

There were spacious interconnecting family rooms, a (very good) all-inclusive buffet (including wine and beer on tap for adults), and nightly Mini Disco followed by family entertainment and shows.

And, as an extra bonus, the hotel is just a 10-minute walk from Costa Adeje's black sand beach.

Keep walking along the seafront and you’ll reach Puerto Colon marina, where you can cast off in search of Tenerife’s whales.

How much? Rates start from €103 per night.

How to get there:

Monarch offers direct flights to Tenerife with prices from as little as £35 each way if you're departing from Birmingham.

The airline offers flights from a host of UK airports including Manchester, Leeds Bradford, London Gatwick and London Luton.

British Airways has flights from London Gatwick with prices from £53 each way , while easyJet with prices from £39.49 each way on UK departures including Manchester, London, Newcastle and Bristol.

Airport transfers:Herrera Bus has eleven minibuses available for airport transfers.

Public transport: If you want to save pennies and use public transport, the bus network is your best bet.

For more information visit the Tenerife Tourism Corporation .