As promised last week here is some information which may be of use.
Hotel
I didn`t choose the hotel but was delighted when asked to give my opinion on
it prior to booking. It was Hotel Aguamarina Golf in Golf del Sur which is
only 10 minutes from the airport. It was a nice hotel with good spacious
rooms all of which had a TV, fridge and hair dryer. There`s a car park along
side. If this was full there`s plenty space on the street. The food was ok,
typical buffet style with a good choice but as with most hotels offering a
buffet the food could be a bit warmer. This is a picture of the hotel seen
when on final approach
http://flic.kr/p/dCZwkc . I`ve marked most of the
room numbers on the picture but for the record the following rooms will be
suitable for spotting...533-537, 433-441, 333-345, 332-317, 232-217 &
132-117. Rooms 533-537 will allow departures off 08 to be seen once
airborne. I`d doubt this is possible from the lower rooms.
Car Hire
I hired a car from Autoreisen. They have an office in the terminal and you
can deal with hiring the car while waiting for the luggage arriving on the
carousel. I had a Citroen C3
http://flic.kr/p/dF9kTY and the cost for 10
days was ?113 including all insurance, extra driver and no excess.
Local area
Golf del Sur is a pretty quiet area with a few hotels and quite a lot of
apartments and as the name suggests a few golf courses. There`s a selection
of eateries & bars within a few minutes walk including Chinese, Indian,
Spanish, Italian and an Aberdeen Steak House. For the sports fans the Wild
Geese bar is about 3 minutes walk and they show all the major sporting
events.
Nearby
Los Christianos is 10-15 minutes drive and the hotel seems to have a regular
free bus service if you don`t have a car. Los Abrigos is a short drive away
and is very nice down near the harbour area for a relaxing drink or snack.
Spotting
The hotel is good for spotting. This shot
http://flic.kr/p/dEtzhS and many
others were taken from the balcony of room 533. Landings for the 10 days
were always on 08
To get to this spotting area
http://flic.kr/p/dEbHjD leave the motorway at
the Los Abrigos exit and head a short way down the TF-65. Take a left on to
TF-645 signposted Atogo. After a couple of minutes on a rather twisty road
it will become obvious where to turn right on to a gravel road which will
take you to this location which is good for photos from 1300 onwards.
This next location is slightly more challenging and of a slight concern
should you wish to hang about for a while. Reason for saying this, there is
a barrier which gets locked when the workers go home. It seems to be used by
the locals going by the amount of pictures I`ve seen online. To get to it
you need to be driving along the road between Los Abrigos and El Medano.
Anyone trying to find it you`ll see Calle Pizarro on google maps, you want
the track immediately after this and follow it round the banana plantation
and it`ll bring you to the perimeter fence where this shot and a few others
were taken
http://flic.kr/p/dEtHms The barrier seems to be open early til
late but still a slight concern. If you got locked in you can walk out and
return the next day for the car! From where I parked I could see other
workers cars and for the short while I was there it seemed fine.
Where this departure shot was taken would be ideal for landers if on 26
http://flic.kr/p/dDkBYo The road doesn`t appear to have a number but the
small map to the right of the picture will show exactly where to go.
Finally for landing shots with Mt Teide in the back ground like this
http://flic.kr/p/dDftca you will have to park the car at the back end of Los
Abrigos and go for a short walk. When you arrive in the town from the
motorway take the first left and there`s plenty of parking spaces next to a
walled garden area and you`ll see where to go pretty quickly for some shots.
Hopefully the above is of use to anyone planning a visit.
All my aviation pictures can be viewed at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gsairpics/
Non aviation shots at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gspiccies/
Cheers
Graham
