Stokin’ panorama – Canary Islands (Tenerife and La Palma)

Beginning of the year, new energy, new time to spend looking for new discoveries. Once again, I travel to this peacful place, and just as I did in the place before (Spanish Paradise in Confusion #10) I found more than I expected. The skate spots were more than I had ever imagined. This trip turned into a crazy kind of stokin’ search and find new DIY and new skateable landscapes inside this Atlantic paradise.

Tenerife, Orotava – Part One

Tenerife

Tenerife

Happy to be back in the green and sociable island of Tenerife (capital of the West Canary Islands) happier, if I could be, to meet old friends that live there who always have a great plan to enjoy as much as possible.

Samu. FSA.

Samu. FSA at Punta del Hidalgo skatepark

Pablo Otamendi.

Pablo Otamendi backside air at Punta del Hidalgo

David Fenandez. Jammer.

David Fenandez. Jammer at Punta del Hidalgo.

Benbi. Backside 5-0 to fakie.

Benbi. Backside 5-0 to fakie. Punta del Hidalgo.

Empty shallow pool

Empty fountain

backside wallride slide

Pablo Otamendi. Backside wallride slide in an empty fountain

Tenerife

Tenerife

Borja Casas. Photo: Pablo Otamendi

Borja Casas. Backside 50-50 at Puerto de La Cruz.  Photo: Juan Mendez del Hoyo

In Tenerife you can find three concrete skateparks: Los Realejos, Puerto de la Cruz, and Punta del Hidalgo. This time we skated Puerto de La Cruz, a concrete bowl, and carved til sunset. My friend Juan told me to go visit Angelito’s ramp that Angelito and his father built up – a DIY project, gnarly wooded indoor miniramp, so they’re in really good company with that wooden jewel in front… no way!!

Fortu's ramp

Fortu’s ramp

“Volcanic session” our bodies roll in once and again, in this never exhausting machine of sensations.

Nice work, sweet wood in Angelito’s DIY.

Night comes down! Time to recover energy with some “papas arrugadas” with “mojo picon” and some “iced cold Doradas” make you feel ready for more.

Tenerife was rad!!

Juan Mendez del Hoyo. Frontside grind at Angelito's.

Juan Mendez del Hoyo. Frontside grind at Angelito’s.

Pedro Lorenzo

Pedro Lorenzo. Frontside ollie at Angelito’s ramp.

Angelito. One foot to fakie on his own ramp.

Angelito. One foot to fakie on his own ramp.

Angelito.  Ollie to fakie.

Angelito. Ollie to fakie.


La Palma (water tanks and DIY) – part 2

Some days later I move to the greener La Palma island, known as “La isla bonita”.

The island has thousands of banana trees… and there we found lots of “water tanks” used to contain water for the banana fields, this concrete water taks don’t have smooth surfaces, transitions, or big concaves to carve fast as hell. The beautiful Canary Islands for some sneaky skate sessions.

In La Palma is also a DIY skatepark, awesome work made by the locals, taking old used ramps, repairing and bringing them back to life, mixed also with some concrete stuff, that gives a plus to this super nice spot.

See you soon!

From La Palma, we sailed back to Tenerife. I skated Punta del Hidalgo and before leaving the island  some information about some pools reached my ears…

I hope to be back as soon as possible, thanks all my friends in the Canaries, the ones I skated with, the ones that made these days in the sunny paradise more epic and memorable  than ever.

Special thanks to Juan Mendez del Hoyo, Quillo Perez and Pablo Otamendi.

Sketchy quarter in the skatepark

Hendrik Baltes. Sketchy quarter in the DIY skatepark

Lien air.

Hendrik Baltes. Lien transfer.

Dam!

Dam!

Canary Island Skate Paradise

Canary Island: Land of dams, ditches and empty pools!

One way over the fence to get in is to ollie it!

Roberto Rodriguez. One way to sneak in over the fence is to ollie it!

Riding the bank.

Hendrix Baltes. Riding the bank in the Banana plantation’s concrete water tank.

Borja Casas - rock n roll. Photo: Quillo Perez

Borja Casas – rock n roll in the empty reservoir. Photo: Quillo Perez

Cess slide in the cess pool.

Cess slide in the cess pool.

Ollie to fakie

Roberto Rodriguez. Ollie to fakie in the empty water tank.

Kickflip to fakie

Javier de Paz. Kickflip to fakie

Boneless

Reservoir dogs boneless for a banana

Empty pool

Back in Tenerife we followed information that led us to an abandoned swimming pool. But was it skateable?

Empty pool

Upon closer inspection… hard to skate but perfect to throw down some DIY modifications

Borja Casas. White pool. Photo: Pablo Otamendi

Borja Casas. White pool. Tenerife. Photo: Pablo Otamendi

Photos + words: Borja Casas