The guide to Nightlife in Tenerife: where is it and what to expect

In this guide we have a look at what the nightlife in Tenerife is like, which are the most active neighborhoods at night, how to get there and what to expect to avoid overly high expectations, since in recent years the situation seems to have changed a bit compared to the past! 😆

Tenerife is a very large island: with its “diameter” of almost 100 km it offers a lot in terms of scenery, beaches, and neighborhoods. Take a look at the other guides on Tenerife to find out what else to visit.

Where is the nightlife in Tenerife?

There are mainly four areas with the most nightlife in Tenerife, each quite different from the others:

• Playa de Las Americas, for the younger crowd with “English-style” discobars;
• Los Cristianos, I would dare say “for Italians”, we’ll see why later;
• The university city of La Laguna
• Santa Cruz de Tenerife, a bit for everyone.

To better understand where to book your hotel to avoid being too far in the evening, take a look at the guide on where to stay in Tenerife.
Keep in mind that Tenerife is not Ibiza and the nightlife on this island is not among the most intense — if partying is the main goal of your trip, you should probably choose another island! 🙂

That said, let’s now have a closer look at the nightlife in each mentioned area.

Playa de Las Americas

The Las Americas area is the most touristy and well-known in Tenerife and is located on the southern coast, it’s also a great place for winter travelers as it’s among the most sheltered from the winds.
In this area, visited mainly by English/Irish, Italian, and a few Northern European tourists, with an increasing average age in recent years, you’ll find various options.

For those who like the genre, walking along the streets of the neighborhood you’ll find several English/Irish pubs, which during the low season are among the few always full, with nights featuring music, karaoke, or big screens showing sports. The crowd is mostly family-oriented.

Younger people can head to the Centro comercial Las Veronicas, a boulevard with a handful of free-entry discobars and, at the north end, a single “classic” disco, the Papagayo.

The discobars

I usually enjoy the “discobar” style, but those in this area of Tenerife have gone downhill recently in my opinion.
The discobars on the Las Veronicas boulevard are all very similar (Jumpin’Jacks, Revolution, Oasis, and many others): an outdoor space with tables to sit and drink, and an indoor section with a bar and a dance floor. The music volume is very high so even in the table area, it’s hard to talk. 

Walking along this boulevard you’ll quickly be approached by all the “promoters” of the individual venues, almost all North African, with a persistence I’ve never seen elsewhere. Even physically grabbing you, they’ll try to invite you with offers of multiple drinks at a discount, 2-for-1 offers and so on. Before you let them convince you to enter though, take a look at the dance floor inside. If it’s empty, and it’s already past midnight, chances are it’ll stay empty.

That’s because whether you’re pulled in by the promoters or decide to go in on your own, you can’t come and go freely like in the past. At the entrance, one of them escorts you straight to the bar to place an order and (sometimes) they tell you that by keeping the receipt you can get a second drink for free, “forcing” people to stay and use it, without being able to switch venues if the place is empty or the music sucks.

So if you like this genre, let yourself be drawn into the one that looks busier or has the vibe you like most.

Some activities you may like, before going on with the article:

These venues are mostly frequented by English/Irish tourists, aged roughly 18 to 30, plus a few random visitors.

The Papagayo disco

This is one of the very few clubs on the island. It’s a small open-air dance floor club, without annoying promoters, a VIP-style table area (where you can’t walk unless you’ve paid the premium ticket), and a small upper floor with a view over the main room and a secondary mini-room.
It’s not too big and the entrance fee ranges from €10 to €25 or more depending on the night and guest performers. To get a better idea of upcoming events check out their website, Instagram profile, and Xceed.

In my opinion it’s a nice place but small, and only worth it if the entry fee is under €10. Drinks are usually not included.

The crowd here is different from the nearby discobars — the vibe is more “composed,” with mainly local people or Spaniards on holiday.

Achaman

This disco is located a few kilometers from the Las Americas area and is a club more oriented toward locals, where Latin music nights are more common. You can get a sense of the schedule by visiting their Instagram profile. Here you’re likely to find a slightly older average age and more locals.

Los Cristianos

In the nearby neighborhood of Los Cristianos there is a boulevard with discobars, overlooking Las Vistas beach.
These are bar/discobars with some seating both outside along the terrace and inside, and a small dance floor. The situation here is a bit more livable and less chaotic than Las Americas, or at least there aren’t the terrible promoters from the other neighborhood. They may not all be open on the same night (for example, on Mondays there might be just one).

The crowd is very different, there are no English people and in fact you might find yourself in a venue with 100% Italians (including bartenders, DJs, and MCs).

La Laguna

San Cristobal de La Laguna is a city in the north of Tenerife that is also the island’s former capital. A city with pedestrian streets and some history that may be worth a daytime visit.
La Laguna is also Tenerife’s university city, and the neighborhood called El Quadrilatero (that is this square and the triangle of streets around it) has a bit of nightlife in the evening, frequented by students aged 18–22.

Don’t expect too much of partying. Here what you’ll find is, after midnight or 1am, a few bars with people chatting and having drinks, or a small number of discobars (actually more bars than discobars), often hard to identify from the outside because they don’t have glass windows, relatively quiet with the same age group and trap/reggaeton music.

Santa Cruz de Tenerife

The current capital, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, also offers a bit of nightlife.
You’ll find some discobars with generally free entry along Avenida Francesco la Roque (the main 4-lane road). By going to this point and walking up and down the sidewalk (or searching ‘discobar’ on maps) you can spot them, even though they don’t have transparent windows so to understand better you’ll need to step inside.

Here the crowd is a bit more varied compared to the tourist areas, with more locals and people of all ages, though it really depends on the time, night, and season. Also here, there’s a risk of finding them half-empty even on a Saturday.

Alternatively, there is the Gekko nightclub near the Palmetum. I haven’t been there myself so I can’t give an opinion. It is however a nightclub with paid entry and on their Instagram page you can check for any scheduled events.

If you park in the larger parking lots in Santa Cruz, be careful because there are often fake parking attendants pretending to be official and asking for money. If this happens, ask them to show you an ID badge and they should back off. Or just park somewhere else.

Now that you know everything about Tenerife nightlife, if you’ve already found a strategically located accommodation, it’s time to see which are the best beaches to visit and what to see on the Teide plateau during the day! 🙂