Tenerife is the biggest and most popular of the Canary Islands with thousands of visitors every year. Most people don’t realise that many of the other islands can be visited from Tenerife by air and sea which means it is a great base to do some island hopping.

Those travellers heading off to Tenerife this summer may like to consider an alternative to the resorts of Los Cristianos and Playa de Las Americas. From Tenerife South airport you can be at the port of Los Cristianos in 30 minutes and from here there are ferries operating to the nearby islands of La Gomera, El Hierro and La Palma.

La Gomera, El Hierro and La Palma are served by ferry operator Naviera Armas (www.navieraarmas.com).

Fred Olsen (www.fredolsen.es/PublicSite/FredOlsenExpress) recently took over the route to La Gomera and operates daily connections between Valle Gran Rey, Puerto Santiago, San Sebastian and Los Cristianos at a subsidised cost to locals. It also runs a high speed Catamaran service to La Palma using larger vessels which takes about 2hrs and stops off at La Gomera (San Sebastian).

Alternatively, if you take a cheap bus ride from the airport to Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the north of the island (60 minutes) you can hop on a Naviera Armas ferry to Gran Canaria, Fuertoventura, Lanzarote, La Palma, El Hierro or even Madiera and Portugal. Fred Olsen runs a catamaran service to Gran Canaria from this port.

Island hopping is a great way to experience the diversity of the Canary Islands, from the hedonistic resorts of south Tenerife, the prehistoric sub tropical rainforests of La Gomera, the spectacular Cumbre Vieja on La Palma or the moon landscapes of Lanzarote.

Another bonus when you island hop around the Canaries is the magnificent scenery. Tenerife’s Mount Tiede rises to 16,000ft above sea level and is often snow capped in winter - take your camera! Keep your eyes open for schools of dolphins which are plentyful in the seas around this area and you may even be lucky enough to spot a pod of Pilot whales.

Then again, if you are worried about sea sickness there is another way to explore the islands. Take an internal flight from either of the Tenerife airports on Binter Canarias airline (www.bintercanarias.com). In a matter of minutes you can fly from one island to the next.

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