5 fun facts about Mount Teide - Night Skies Tenerife

5 fun facts about Mount Teide, Tenerife

Mount Teide (El Teide or Pico del Teide in Spanish) is the highest of several volcanos rising within the caldera of Las Cañadas. Its peak is the highest point in Spain at 3,715 meters (12,188 feet) and is the third largest volcano on the planet if measured from the ocean floor.
A relatively young stratovolcano, Mount Teide started growing approximately 170,000 years ago following a catastrophic landslide caused by the eruption of Las Cañadas. It has reached its current height following multiple eruptions and continuous layers of lava building up.

Mount Teide is the highest of three notable peaks forming the central Teide range which also includes Pico Viejo (3,135m) in the west and Montaña Blanca (2,748m) in the east. Even though the last notable eruption occurred from a side vent named El Chinyero as recently as 1909, the last eruption from the peak itself was back in 1798. It is a lesser-known fact that there are 411 volcanoes in total on the Island of Tenerife.
Legend has it that the supreme god, Archaman cast Guayota (the devil) into the volcano and sealed the crater, freeing Magec (the god of light and the sun) and enabling the indigenous people, the Guanches to thrive on Tenerife.
As amazing at night as it is during the day, Mount Teide is one of the best spots in the world for stargazing and astrophotography.

Cancellation and Curtailment Policy

We are blessed in Tenerife with wonderful and clear weather on most days, the Teide Observatory registers over 300 clear or partially clear nights every year!. However, on the rare occasion where this is not the case, we have the following policies:

Cancellation Policy

If the live webcam on Teide shows, or the weather forecast predicts severely adverse conditions and there is an extremely low probability that the tour can be completed, then we will cancel the tour giving the most notice possible. We will make every effort to reschedule you on another tour, however where this is not possible we will arrange a 100% refund to you.

Curtailment Policy

If the live webcam on Teide shows, or the weather forecast predicts conditions such that we believe that there is a reasonable probability that the tour can be completed, then we will proceed with the tour in good faith and make every effort possible to ensure that we can complete the tour and deliver a satisfactory sunset and stargazing experience for you. However, at our discretion, if we believe that the weather conditions have deteriorated to an extent that we are unable to provide a satisfactory sunset and/or stargazing experience due to poor visibility; we will curtail the tour at either the commencement of the sunset or the commencement of the stargazing.

We will make every effort to reschedule you on another day free of charge, however where this is not possible we will arrange a refund of Two Thirds (66.67%) of your ticket price if the tour is curtailed prior to the sunset and 50% of your ticket price if the tour is curtailed at the stargazing and furthermore we will issue you with a voucher for a One Half (50%) discount if you book another tour on our website within the next 12 months.

We appreciate that the above terms ‘extremely low probability’, ‘reasonable probability’ and ‘satisfactory experience’ are all subject to interpretation, but this decision is at our discretion and is our decision alone. We will always aim to be fair and transparent when making these decisions.