Playa de Benijo at sunset

Benijo is where the road through the Anaga mountains finally runs out. Below the last hamlet, a steep path drops to a beach of coarse black sand with two rock stacks — the Roques de Anaga — standing out of the water a few hundred metres offshore. There is no promenade, no beach bar row, nothing but cliff, sand and swell.

It is the strongest sunset on this side of Tenerife. The coast faces north, so in summer the sun sets far enough round to drop into the sea beyond the stacks; in winter it goes down behind the headland instead and the beach turns to silhouette much earlier. Either way the stacks give the frame something to sit against, and a long exposure smooths the water into mist around them.

Check the tide before you drive out: at high water the usable sand shrinks to almost nothing and the waves reach the foot of the path. The Atlantic here is rough and the currents are serious — this is a beach to photograph on, not to swim from. Do not put anyone on the wet rocks with their back to the sea.

Anaga makes its own weather. The trade winds pile cloud on the ridge above, so the drive over can be in fog while the coast below is clear, or the other way round — check the webcam or simply accept that the mountain decides. Allow forty-five minutes of hairpins from Santa Cruz and park above; the small car park fills at weekends.