Live forecast for El Medano Beach (Granadilla (Tenerife), Santa Cruz de Tenerife). Water temperature, wave height, wind, beach index 1-10 and best time to swim. Coordinates 28.0440, -16.5390.
El Medano is Spain's windsurf and kitesurf capital thanks to the steady trade winds. The beach extends to Montana Roja, a protected volcanic cone. Young, international and sporty atmosphere.
Orientation: southeast, approximate length 1900 m, sand type: golden sand. Holds a current Blue Flag award. Services: windsurf and kitesurf schools, beach bars, showers, toilets and sunbed rental. Access: Titsa buses 470 and 471 from Tenerife South airport, about 15 minutes.
The WhatAWeather beach index combines six meteorological variables into a 0-10 score: air temperature (best above 22 °C), sea surface temperature from the Open-Meteo Marine model (best above 20 °C), wind speed (best below 20 km/h), significant wave height (best below 0.8 m), cloud cover (best below 30 %) and accumulated rainfall (best below 0.5 mm). A value of 8-10 means perfect, 6-7 good, 4-5 acceptable and below 4 we advise against swimming.
For the official microbiological status of Spanish bathing waters consult the NAYADE system run by the Spanish Ministry of Health. WhatAWeather displays an informational jellyfish warning when sea temperature exceeds 23 °C and the wind blows from the east (levante), a situation statistically correlated with sightings in the Mediterranean and the Strait of Gibraltar. This is an orientation indicator and does not replace official Red Cross or city council bulletins.
The sea is at its warmest in October, averaging 24.6 °C, and at its coldest in February, at 20.5 °C. On land the month with the highest daily maxima is August, which averages 27.5 °C.
The sea stays above 22 °C for 7 months of the year (June, July, August, September, October, November and December), a comfortable range for long swims without a wetsuit. The gap between air and sea temperature is the figure that misleads most: in August the air reaches 27.5 °C against 24.1 °C in the water.
In July and August the mean wave height is around 1.4 m, a shorebreak present almost daily, more for a board than for an inflatable. In winter the mean climbs to 1.2 m, with the annual peak in July at 1.4 m. The prevailing summer wind comes from the north, and the windiest month is January, when daily maximum gusts average 20 km/h.
July averages 12.9 hours of effective sunshine a day and 0.2 rain days across the month. July is also the driest month of the year, against October, the wettest, with 3.8 rain days; over the year as a whole it rains on about 25 days.
| Month | Max. air | Min. air | Sea | Wave | Max. gust | Rain days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 21.0 | 15.5 | 21.2 | 1.20 | 20 | 1.0 |
| February | 21.1 | 15.3 | 20.5 | 1.10 | 20 | 2.3 |
| March | 21.4 | 15.2 | 20.6 | 1.30 | 19 | 2.8 |
| April | 21.9 | 15.9 | 21.0 | 1.20 | 17 | 3.2 |
| May | 23.0 | 17.0 | 21.4 | 1.20 | 17 | 2.1 |
| June | 24.2 | 18.3 | 23.0 | 1.10 | 17 | 1.8 |
| July | 26.3 | 19.9 | 23.3 | 1.40 | 17 | 0.2 |
| August | 27.5 | 21.1 | 24.1 | 1.40 | 16 | 0.8 |
| September | 26.4 | 20.7 | 24.3 | 1.10 | 16 | 1.6 |
| October | 26.0 | 20.4 | 24.6 | 1.00 | 16 | 3.8 |
| November | 24.2 | 18.6 | 23.4 | 1.00 | 19 | 3.0 |
| December | 22.4 | 16.9 | 22.2 | 1.20 | 19 | 2.7 |
These are climatological means, not a forecast: they describe what has happened on average over the past decade, and any single day can depart a long way from them. The sea column holds the mean of the daily maximum sea-surface temperature, and the wave column the mean of the day's highest significant wave height. The beach index above, by contrast, is computed from today's forecast, combining air and sea temperature, waves, wind, cloud and rain — which is why it can contradict the table on any given day.
