The practical part
The essentials
Decide the one thing to do
A port day is one trip, not three. La Laguna’s old town on line 15 or the tram is the safest: frequent, short, and the way back runs all day. Las Teresitas on line 910 is the beach. Anaga on line 946 is the big landscape and the longest ride, with the fewest buses back.
Checked TITSA lines 15, 910, 946 Metrotenerife: Tram routes and timetables
Start at the Intercambiador
Every line above leaves from Santa Cruz Intercambiador. Its boards on this site print the departures by day type; buy a ten+ Day Travelcard at the machines there if you plan more than two rides, and it covers the tram too.
Checked TITSA: Line 15 timetable TITSA: Tickets and fares Metrotenerife: Tram routes and timetables
Work back from all-aboard, not from the last bus
Start from your ship’s all-aboard time. Take off the walk from the Intercambiador to your quay (your ship’s shore team knows it) and a buffer of at least an hour for traffic, a full bus or a late departure: that is the time your bus must reach Santa Cruz by. Then read the board and take a bus back that arrives before it, counting the ride: about an hour on line 946 from Almáciga by TITSA’s page. On a port day that is usually an early return, never the last bus and never the one before the last by habit. A bus is never a guarantee: the ship does not wait, and a missed 946 is a taxi from the mountains.
La Laguna: the UNESCO old town, a quarter of an hour away
Line 15 between the two Intercambiadores takes about a quarter of an hour; tram line 1 is slower but passes through both city centres and runs more often. This site’s Santa Cruz–La Laguna guide compares the two and names the ticket that covers both.
Checked TITSA: Line 15 timetable Metrotenerife: Tram routes and timetables
Las Teresitas: the beach
Line 910 runs from Santa Cruz Intercambiador to San Andrés and Playa de Las Teresitas, with separate weekday and weekend tables. It is the one beach within an easy port day.
Checked TITSA: Line 910 timetable
Anaga: only with a long port call
Line 946 climbs from Santa Cruz via San Andrés to Taganana and Almáciga. It is the finest ride on this coast and the one most likely to strand a cruise passenger: few departures, a mountain road, about an hour each way by TITSA’s page, and no alternative bus. A return that only reaches Santa Cruz around all-aboard has already missed the ship, whatever the board says; take it only on a long call, on an early return that leaves the full buffer.
Checked TITSA: Line 946 timetable
Teide and the south: not in a port day
Teide by bus from Santa Cruz means a change in Puerto de la Cruz or Costa Adeje and a single mountain bus each way; the south coast is an hour on line 10 or 110 before the day starts. Both are for a longer stay or a tour. The tours this site lists leave from Santa Cruz with the return in the price.
Asked and answered
Questions people ask
How far is the cruise terminal from the bus station in Santa Cruz?
This site has not measured it and does not guess. The Intercambiador is the city’s interchange; the port authority and your ship’s shore team give the walking directions from your quay. Once at the Intercambiador, every line on this page is on the boards.
Checked WebTenerife: Tenerife’s ports
Can I get to Teide from the cruise port by bus?
Not sensibly in a port day. The mountain buses are line 348 from Puerto de la Cruz and line 342 from Costa Adeje, each with one trip up and one down; reaching either start from Santa Cruz is a bus ride first. Keep Teide for a tour or a longer stay.
Does line 15 run on Sundays?
Yes, on the Sundays-and-holidays table, which this site prints on the Santa Cruz and La Laguna boards; the tram is the other option and Metrotenerife’s own page gives its pattern.
Checked TITSA: Line 15 timetable Metrotenerife: Tram routes and timetables
Which bus back should I take to make all-aboard?
The latest one that still reaches Santa Cruz Intercambiador at least an hour before all-aboard, plus the walk to your quay. Count the ride from where you are: about an hour on line 946 from Almáciga, about a quarter of an hour on line 15 from La Laguna. If a bus would only just make it, it does not make it: take an earlier one. No bus is a guarantee of reaching the ship.
The other half of the plan
And the way back.
Work back from all-aboard: take off the walk to your quay and at least an hour of buffer, then pick a bus that reaches Santa Cruz Intercambiador before that, never the last one of the day. The tram from La Laguna is the all-day fallback, and still no guarantee.
Checked TITSA: Line 15 timetable Metrotenerife: Tram routes and timetables
