El Puertito de Adeje

A small WSW-facing cove on the leeward south-west coast of Tenerife, well sheltered by the island mass from the dominant NE trade winds and from the entire N-through-SE arc of swell, which keeps conditions calm roughly 90% of the year. Its real exposure is the SW–W window: NW Atlantic groundswell that refracts around the island's south-west corner arrives most strongly from the WSW, with weaker energy from the SW and NW. La Gomera, sitting due west, shadows the direct W bearing, so the WSW gap is the main way swell reaches the cove. The site is current-free, but a building SW swell will close it out and stir up the sand.