Eco Banana Plantation Guided Tour with Tasting La Orotava Tenerife

The Orotava Valley and El Rincón

The Orotava Valley is the broad green amphitheatre that opens from the slopes of Mount Teide down to the Atlantic on the north coast of Tenerife. It was carved by a giant landslide hundreds of thousands of years ago, and its deep volcanic soils, mild temperatures and moist trade winds have made it the island's richest farming land, famous for bananas, potatoes and flowers.

The plantation sits in El Rincón, a protected rural area between La Orotava and Puerto de la Cruz where banana terraces run almost to the cliffs above the sea. If you are wondering how to get to the plantation, it is about 10 minutes by car or taxi from Puerto de la Cruz and around an hour from the southern resorts, and the farm is easy to combine with a day in the north.

Walking the Banana Corridors

The tour begins with a walk along the corridors between the banana plants, which grow several metres high and form a cool, shaded tunnel of huge leaves. Your guide explains that the banana is not a tree but a giant herb: each stem fruits only once, then is cut down and replaced by a young shoot growing from the same root, so mother, daughter and granddaughter plants stand side by side.

You see bunches at different stages, from the purple flower to heavy hands of green fruit, and learn why the bunches are protected and how farmers know when to harvest. This La Orotava banana farm visit lasts about 50 minutes, the right length for families, and the paths are mostly flat and easy underfoot.

Organic Farming without Pesticides

What makes this plantation special is its approach to farming. Instead of chemical pesticides and fertilisers, the owners rely on biodiversity: aromatic plants, cereals and other crops grow among the bananas, attracting beneficial insects and keeping pests in balance, while organic matter from the farm feeds the soil.

Your guide shows how water, compost and plant cover are managed so the farm supplies most of what it needs from within its own walls. It is a rare chance to see sustainable agriculture up close in the Canary Islands, where most bananas grow on conventional plantations. Many visitors say this is the part of the eco banana plantation tour that changes how they look at the fruit in their shopping basket.

Canary Island Bananas and the Tasting

Canary Island bananas, known as plátano de Canarias, carry a European protected geographical indication. They are smaller than most imported bananas, with characteristic dark speckles on the skin and a sweeter, more intense flavour, the result of a slower ripening in the island climate. Bananas arrived in the Canaries in the 15th century and remain the archipelago's most important crop.

The guide explains how bananas are harvested green and ripen afterwards, and why Canary growers protect them so carefully from wind and sun. The visit ends with a tasting of fresh organic bananas from the farm, a simple moment that shows the difference between fruit picked at its best and fruit shipped across oceans.

La Orotava Town and Puerto de la Cruz

Above the plantation lies La Orotava, one of the best-preserved historic towns in the Canary Islands. Its steep cobbled streets are lined with manor houses that have carved wooden balconies, such as the 17th-century Casa de los Balcones, and the baroque Church of La Concepción crowns the old centre. The town hall square is famous for the carpets of coloured volcanic sand made for the Corpus Christi festival.

Down on the coast, Puerto de la Cruz offers the 18th-century botanical garden, the seawater pools of Lago Martiánez and a lively old fishing quarter. If you are looking for things to do in La Orotava, the banana farm makes a perfect morning start before lunch in town or an afternoon by the sea.