The Surf Villa sleeps 17, with a sauna, an ice bath, a jacuzzi and a heated pool, for a week with a big family. It is a private house in Costa Adeje, south Tenerife, booked direct with the owners.
Tenerife sells itself on winter sun, and it delivers: the south of the island sits around 20 to 23 degrees in January. What the brochures leave out is that a normal villa pool in January is somewhere around 17 or 18 degrees. That is a quick dip and a towel, not an afternoon in the water. If swimming is part of the holiday you are picturing, a heated pool is the single most important line on the listing between November and April.
What "heated" actually means
Three things get called a heated pool, and they are not the same. An unheated pool is none of these: the water is whatever the month leaves it.
- A heat pump. Electric, set to a temperature, works whatever the weather. Villa Black's pool is heated this way, and it sits in the sun most of the day, which helps.
- A solar cover. A cover on the water, and the cover is what heats the pool. The Surf Villa's 32ft pool is heated by an electric solar cover. The cover is removed at the click of a button. The longer it is left on, the hotter the pool gets. In summer it gets too hot to leave on.
- "Can be heated for a supplement." Ask what the supplement is and whether it is on when you arrive. Some villas charge €200 or more a week and only switch it on after you have paid.
Whichever it is, ask a direct question: what temperature is the pool in the month I am coming? A host who knows their villa can answer.
Our villas, honestly
- The Surf Villa: 32ft pool, lit at night, with a jacuzzi beside it, a barrel sauna and an ice bath. The heating is the solar cover above.
- Villa Black: heated pool, about 1.5 m deep, sun almost all day, plus a jacuzzi.
- The Surf Villa 3: the pool itself is not heated, but the large jacuzzi next to it is, and in winter that is where everyone ends up.
- The Surf Villa 2: pool and jacuzzi; check the page for the current setup.
Heating and wellness are different questions
This page is about the pool: what "heated" means, and which of our pools are heated. How a big family uses the sauna, ice bath, jacuzzi and heated pool together from November to April is a wellness villa in Tenerife.
The rest of a winter week
The sea on the south coast is around 19 to 20 degrees in winter, warmer than the Atlantic anywhere else in Europe. Restaurants are open, the roads are quiet, and prices are lower than in August. The one thing to plan around is the evening: it drops to 15 or 16 degrees after dark, so a villa with a fire pit and an indoor fireplace (The Surf Villa has both) earns its keep.
Dates are on the live calendar. If you want to talk through the week before you pay, send an enquiry.
Questions
How is The Surf Villa's pool heated?
By an electric solar cover: a cover that heats the pool, removed at the click of a button. The longer it is left on, the hotter the pool gets. In summer it gets too hot to leave on.
What is the difference between a heat pump, a solar cover and an unheated pool?
A heat pump is electric, set to a temperature, and works whatever the weather. A solar cover is a cover that heats the pool, which is the system on The Surf Villa. An unheated pool is none of these. A normal villa pool in January is somewhere around 17 or 18 degrees.