Tenerife excursions with kids, age by age.

What ruins a family day out isn't the weather or the price: it's turning up at the meeting point and being told the little one can't come. Every activity has its minimum age, and it's almost never on display. Here are all the ones in our catalogue, from youngest to oldest, with what each child pays where there's a separate child rate.

At the end you'll also find the ones that go by weight or swimming ability rather than age, a sample week for a family with two children and the questions we get asked most.

From babies

These have no minimum age:

• Whale and dolphin watching: suitable for all ages, and babies aged 0 to 1 go free. It's the best first excursion with kids: the pilot whales live off Los Gigantes all year round and, after the sighting, the boat stops for a swim.
• Arona Show: traditional Canarian music at the Los Cristianos auditorium, on Wednesdays at 20:30. It lasts 1 hour 15 minutes, with no dinner and no drinks, and it's suitable for all ages. It finishes at 21:45, which is already late for small children: weigh it up depending on how they sleep.
• Teide Light and Anaga: both are full-day trips with pick-up at your accommodation, and children up to 11 pay €29.50. They're suitable for all ages, but they're proper walks: an hour and a half to two hours, with 175 metres of elevation gain on the Teide and 300 in Anaga. With children who aren't walking yet, think ahead about how you'll carry them.
• Farms in the south: bananas and winery (children up to 11, €58; the wine tasting is for adults only), aloe vera and bananas, or market and prickly pears (ages 4 to 11, €49). There's little walking, all on the flat, and they finish before 13:00, so you're back in time for the afternoon nap.
• Teide by night with bus, sunset and dinner: the full night trip takes children from age 0, and up to 11 they pay €55. It's cold up there, so warm clothes for everyone.

If you only do one excursion with a baby, make it the whales.

Which whale watching boat to choose with kids

Four different boats leave from Los Gigantes, and with children it does matter which one you pick:

• Gladiator U and Inia: two hours, from €30. With young children this is the sensible choice: long enough to see whales and have a swim, short enough that nobody gets bored. The Inia takes small groups of 12.
• Nashira Uno: three hours with a meal and two drinks, from €40. Better with slightly older children who can handle a longer trip.
• Lady Elsie: an exclusive three-hour sailing trip with snorkelling included, from €60.

From age 3

• Teide Cable Car: from age 3, and children aged 3 to 13 pay €46. Bear in mind that you feel the altitude at the top, and pregnant women and people with cardiovascular problems or reduced mobility can't go up.
• Buggy tour on the Teide: from age 3 in the four-seater buggy. In the two-seater, the child has to be at least 1.35 m tall. You pay per buggy, not per person: the four-seater costs €250 for the whole family.
• Go-karting: from age 3 on the two-seater circuit, always with an adult.
• Jeep safari to Masca from the north: children aged 3 to 11, €47.
• Siam Park and Loro Parque: children under 3 go free and children aged 3 to 11 pay the child rate. We explain which one to pick in Siam Park or Loro Parque with kids?.

Go-karting, by age

It's one of the few activities with a kart for every age, in 12-minute sessions:

• Biplaza, the two-seater (child aged 3 to 5 with an adult): €29.
• Pony (ages 6 to 9): €16.
• Cadete Junior (ages 10 to 14): €23.
• Cadete Senior (ages 15 to 17): €26.

There's one track for the older ones and another for the little ones, so everyone goes at their own pace. There's no pick-up: the circuit is in Arona, next to the southern motorway.

From age 4

This is the age at which some excursions start charging a child rate:

• Aloe vera farm and banana plantation and farmers' market and prickly pear farm: ages 4 to 11, €49.
• Guided excursions in French: ages 4 to 11, €29.50. Only if your family speaks French.

From age 5 or 6

• Helicopter: recommended from age 5. There are routes from 7 minutes, which for a child is more than enough.
• Kayaking and snorkelling: from age 6, and children aged 6 to 10 pay half price for the kayak. It leaves from the beach at Los Cristianos, with a 30-minute snorkelling stop to look for turtles, which are usually there because they live in the area.
• Teide summit climb: from age 6, and only with a good level of fitness, because it involves a walk of around two hours rated as hard. Children pay €89. Once confirmed, it can't be cancelled.

From age 8

• Try dive: from age 8. No certificate or strong swimming needed, and it's done with one instructor per student, in the Bahía de las Rayas (Rays Bay).
• Stargazing with telescopes: from age 8, and children aged 8 to 13 pay €37. It lasts 75 minutes with an astrophysicist guide. The Astronomic Tour, with pick-up, charges €72 for children aged 8 to 13.
• OWD (Open Water Diver) course: from age 10. It's the first diving certification: two or three days, with theory online and four open-water dives.

The ones that don't go by age

For some activities it isn't age that counts but weight, strength or being able to swim. There's no published figure for these, so we check when you book:

• Paragliding: the passenger has to weigh between 25 and 100 kilos.
• Kitesurfing: weight is what counts.
• Windsurfing and wingfoiling: you need to be heavy enough for the smallest kit and, for wing, have a bit of strength.
• Surfing and eFoil: you need to be a confident swimmer.
• Private catamaran: there's no published minimum age, but children count towards the maximum of 11 people.
• Outdoor escape room: no published minimum age, always with adults. It takes about two hours, walking around and solving puzzles on your phone, and one booking for €19.50 covers a group of up to six.

The one we don't recommend with young children

The Camino Real: three and a half to four hours on foot, with 352 metres of elevation gain. It's the most demanding route we sell, and with young children it drags on for everyone. If you want to walk as a family, Anaga or the Teide Light are the short version.

A sample week with a 4-year-old and a 9-year-old

1. Day 1: whale watching on the Gladiator U or the Inia, two hours in the morning. Pool in the afternoon.
2. Day 2: Loro Parque, full day, on the day the transfer comes through your area.
3. Day 3: aloe vera farm and banana plantation in the morning (November to April). Free afternoon.
4. Day 4: Teide Light, on the Thursday. Closed shoes and something warm.
5. Day 5: go-karting: Pony for the 9-year-old and the two-seater with an adult for the 4-year-old.
6. Day 6: rest. With kids, you always need one.
7. Day 7: four-seater buggy on the Teide, or the escape room if you prefer something calm.

Kayaking is left out only because the youngest isn't 6 yet: as soon as they are, it's the first thing we'd add.

Three tips that save a lot of grief

• Check the age before you book, not the day before. We always confirm it when you book.
• Put the sea activities in the morning. With kids, the energy runs out before the day does.
• Don't string two long days together. Teide Light, Anaga and Loro are full-day trips: leave a quiet day in between.

Questions we get asked a lot

Up to what age do children pay a reduced rate?

It depends on the activity. For most it's up to age 11, but on the cable car and for stargazing it goes up to 13, and on the kayak, half price applies from 6 to 10.

Do babies pay?

On the whale watching trips, babies aged 0 to 1 go free. At Siam Park and Loro Parque, children under 3 go free.

What if my child gets seasick on the boat?

Choose a two-hour boat instead of a three-hour one. And if it really worries you, kayaking from the beach at Los Cristianos or snorkelling from the shore lets you be out on the sea without spending hours on board.

Tell us your children's ages and the days you have, and we'll tell you what fits and what is better saved for another trip.