Search & Compare Car Hire Deals
Free cancellation on most vehicles
The Cliffs and the Marina
The resort takes its name from the *Acantilados de Los Gigantes* — sheer basalt faces that drop vertically into the Atlantic. You do not need a car to see them, but you do need one to reach the two best viewpoints on the approach road: Mirador Archipenque and Mirador de la Cruz de Hilda are both roadside pull-offs where coaches rarely stop and the angle across the water is arguably better than anything from the marina itself.
Whale Watching — Book the Right Boat
The waters between Los Gigantes and La Gomera are classified as Europe's first Whale Heritage Site (World Cetacean Alliance, 2021) and are a designated Natura 2000 Special Area of Conservation (Teno-Rasca ZEC). A few hundred short-finned pilot whales are resident here year-round; bottlenose dolphins appear daily; migratory species are best sighted November through June.
The critical rule: book only operators flying the yellow "Barco Azul" (Blue Boat) flag. This certification is issued jointly by the Canary Islands Tourism Ministry and the Spanish Environment Ministry and capped by a 2019 moratorium — unlicensed boats operate in the same waters and are worth avoiding. Typical prices run from €28 per person for a two-hour trip with Flipper Uno up to €30–40 with most licensed operators; sailing-boat excursions start around €70. Departure slots from the marina are roughly 10:00, 13:00 and 16:00.
A hire car adds nothing to the whale trip itself — boats leave from the marina at the bottom of the hill — but it means you can combine an early morning departure with a drive to Masca or the almond-blossom hills afterwards without depending on taxi returns.
Kayaking Under the Cliffs
Several outfitters based at the marina offer guided kayak tours directly beneath the cliff faces. It is a different perspective entirely from the boat trips, quieter, and usually cheaper. No car required, but worth combining with a morning drive to Punta de Teno (see below for the bus rule that applies there).
---
On Your Doorstep — Playa de la Arena and Puerto de Santiago
Playa de la Arena, 10 minutes' walk from the southern edge of Los Gigantes along the TF-47, is a proper black-sand beach with lifeguards and changing facilities. It is worth knowing that currents can be strong here despite a calm surface; always swim between the flags. The beach does not currently hold Blue Flag status on the official ADEAC list, despite appearing that way in some tourist brochures — worth checking the current season's list if this matters to you.
Puerto de Santiago, immediately between the beach and Los Gigantes, is the working town of the strip: supermarkets, pharmacies, independent restaurants where fewer coaches stop. The Puerto de Santiago car hire page covers pick-up options if you land locally rather than at the airport.
This three-kilometre coastal strip is walkable end-to-end in 25–35 minutes, so a car is not essential for these immediate neighbours — but you will want it for everything described below.
---
Masca — Village by Car, Gorge on Foot
The Village
Masca village sits 13 km from Los Gigantes (25–30 minutes) on the TF-436, a road with gradients reaching 16% and single-track pinch points where coaches struggle. For a standard hire car there is no formal restriction, but read your rental agreement regarding mountain roads if you have booked a budget category. The driving tips for the mountain roads page covers the technique in full.
Parking: there is a small village car park with a strict two-hour maximum between 08:00 and 14:00; enforcement includes towing. Arrive early, before the midday coaches, and you will find the village genuinely quiet. The views across the Teno massif to the sea are the real payoff.
The Gorge Hike — Different Rules Apply
The Masca Gorge hike is managed separately from the village and is heavily regulated. Private cars are not permitted for the hike — access to the trailhead requires the dedicated TITSA line 355 shuttle from Santiago del Teide (operating since April 2025, currently running Friday through Sunday; check current days on the official portal).
Booking is compulsory via caminobarrancodemasca.com: €40.66 per adult, €20.33 for children aged 8–18. Children under 8 are banned from the trail entirely. The gorge is open to around 25 hikers per 30-minute slot, with descents permitted in the morning only (08:30–13:00 start window). A helmet is provided and must be worn; hiking boots with proper grip are mandatory — staff will turn you away in trainers. Slots sell out weeks ahead in season.
Return logistics from the beach at the gorge's foot have changed over the years; check current arrangements on the official portal when booking, as the boat return to Los Gigantes marina has not always been consistently available.
The route requires some planning that a car alone cannot simplify — but staying locally rather than in a southern resort makes the shuttle pickup at Santiago del Teide (10 km/15 min from Los Gigantes) entirely practical.
---
Teide from the West — The TF-38 Advantage
Most coach trips to Mount Teide approach from the east. Driving yourself via the TF-38 (Chío route) from the west coast is the argument for a hire car: you leave sea level at Los Gigantes and climb 55 km to the cable-car base at around 2,350 m without the motorway traffic, arriving early enough for the summit permit window.
Cable car tickets need advance booking; the summit permit (above 3,550 m) is a separate reservation and fills months ahead. Worth knowing: the TF-38 closes for ice or snow several times each winter — confirmed closures in December 2025, February 2026 and March 2026. Always check the Cabildo road-status page the evening before.
For stargazing and sunrise trips, the western approach works well precisely because a car is the only viable option: there is no TITSA service that reaches Teide from Los Gigantes without multiple changes.
Journey time: approximately one hour each way.
---
The North-West Loop — Garachico, Icod, La Orotava
A full day by car can take in three of Tenerife's most characterful northern towns.
Garachico (~30 km, 40–45 min) is famous for its El Caletón natural lava rock pools, formed by an 18th-century eruption and now the best free swimming on the north coast. The historic centre has genuinely narrow streets — park on the seafront and walk in.
Icod de los Vinos (~35 km, 45 min) is worth the detour for the Drago Milenario, a dragon tree estimated at several hundred years old and one of the strangest-looking things in the archipelago.
La Orotava (~50 km, ~55 min) offers the best-preserved colonial architecture in Tenerife: the Casas de los Balcones, the town hall square, and a proper Canarian market.
Until the Erjos tunnel opens (Q1 2027), this loop uses the TF-82 mountain road between Santiago del Teide and the north — allow a full day rather than a half-day, and expect slow sections behind lorries on the pass. Once the tunnel opens, journey times will fall significantly and the loop becomes more viable for an afternoon.
---
Punta de Teno — Bus Only, No Exceptions
The road to Punta de Teno lighthouse (TF-445) is closed to private vehicles every day without exception. Since 19 January 2026, roadworks (a 10-month, €1.6M+ programme under Next Generation EU funding) make the TITSA bus 369 the only option regardless of time of day. The bus leaves from Buenavista del Norte, about 40 km and 50 minutes from Los Gigantes by car. From there, the bus costs €1 per leg and takes around 20 minutes to the lighthouse.
What you get at the end: the lighthouse itself, a popular snorkelling bay, and — crucially — the view back east along the cliff face. Looking at the Los Gigantes cliffs from the sea, from a boat, is one perspective; looking at them from land, from the north-western tip of the island, is another.
Drive to Buenavista, park, take the bus. The hire car gets you to Buenavista; TITSA does the rest.
---
Almond Blossom in Winter — Late January to Early March
If you are visiting in February, this is worth knowing: the slopes around Santiago del Teide (10 km/15 min from Los Gigantes on the TF-436) turn pink and white as the almond trees flower across the 1909 Chinyero lava fields.
The waymarked almond routes from Santiago del Teide cover around 7.5–10 km (the SL-TF-60 and PR-TF 65.4 variants run through Las Manchas toward the traditional pottery village of Arguayo). Park roadside in the village of Santiago del Teide — the trail is linear, so many walkers taxi back to their car at the end. There is no coach-tour equivalent to this; it is a hire-car excursion by definition.
Peak flowering is usually February, though exact timing varies year to year.
---
Distances at a Glance
All times are indicative by car in normal conditions; mountain roads add unpredictability.
| Destination | Distance from Los Gigantes | Approx drive time |
|---|---|---|
| Santiago del Teide | ~10 km | ~15 min |
| Masca village | ~13 km | ~25–30 min |
| Playa de las Américas | ~30 km | ~25–30 min |
| Garachico | ~30 km | ~40–45 min |
| Los Cristianos | ~33 km | ~30 min |
| Icod de los Vinos | ~35 km | ~45 min |
| Punta de Teno barrier / Buenavista | ~40 km | ~50 min |
| Teide cable car (via TF-38 Chío) | ~55 km | ~1 hr |
| Puerto de la Cruz | ~62 km | ~50–60 min |
| Tenerife South Airport (TFS) | ~42 km | ~35–40 min |
---
Is a Hire Car Worth It Against an Excursion Coach?
The honest case: if you only want one trip — say, a whale-watching boat — the bus from Los Gigantes (TITSA 477, hourly to Costa Adeje in ~53 min; line 473 to Los Cristianos every ~90 min) covers the coastal strip adequately, and the marina is walkable from the main resort.
The car pays off once you want flexibility or destinations the buses do not serve. There is no direct TITSA service to Teide, no bus to Punta de Teno without driving first to Buenavista, and no practical public connection to the almond-blossom routes or a full north-coast loop.
On cost: Imperial Car Rental lists a small car from around €15/day, making a three-day hire approximately €45–66 in total. A couple doing three excursions — Masca (taxi from Santiago would cost more than a day's hire), Teide, and the north-west loop — typically comes out cheaper than three separate coach-tour tickets, with the added benefit of setting your own departure times. Whale watching from €28 per person is the one trip where the boat price is fixed regardless; but even on whale-watching day, the car earns its keep for whatever you do before the 10:00 or 13:00 departure.