GeoTenerife School Trips to Tenerife

We are passionate about education!

The spectacular volcanic island of Tenerife offers a unique opportunity for school and 6th Form pupils to experience the educational adventure of a lifetime. Our mission is to deliver the best possible experience for them.

GeoTenerife is a specialist educational UK tour operator servicing Tenerife with a permanent, dedicated presence on the island. This means we have the best local knowledge, access and networks in Tenerife for educational trips.

Our genuine desire to promote the scientific learning potential of the island is backed by twenty years’ experience in the field. We don’t “bolt on” existing tourist trips to our itineraries – we develop our own. Thanks to our long term collaboration agreements with a range of local experts and institutions, we can offer access to a unique learning experience and provide exciting behind-the-scenes visits to installations. No two trips are alike and we work with you to ensure your students get the most out of your time on the island.

WHY CHOOSE GEOTENERIFE?

Our students and teachers rate our trips as “excellent” or “very good” and our groups rebook with us year after year. Here’s why:

UK Accreditation: We are a UK company and members of ABTA. We are currently undergoing School Travel Forum certification.

Local subsidiary: GeoTenerife has a fully-owned subsidiary and fulltime staff on the island of Tenerife (Viajes y Prácticas Científicas GeoTenerife SL). This is important, as it means we are:

  • fully recognised by the local authorities to carry out educational trips and courses on the island.
  • In terms of liability and insurance, our trips are doubly covered – by our UK membership of ABTA and our local cover
  • we employ full-time local, bilingual scientific field trip coordinators in Tenerife to accompany your groups throughout your time on the island and oversee the smooth running of every aspect of your trip.

As soon as you book with us, you will be assigned your own dedicated coordinator in Tenerife who will help you from start to finish:

  • ORGANISE your tailor-made itinerary according to study subject and level
  • LIAISE with you in the lead-up to your trip, to answer any queries and make any adjustments are required
  • BOOK the perfect experts to teach your students as and when required
  • BOOK all your accommodation, transport and logistics requirements
  • SECURE access to specific sites and installations to enhance the educational content of your trip
  • SECURE any work permits required for fieldwork from the local authorities
  • ACCOMPANY you throughout your time on the island. You will be met at the airport on arrival and be accompanied by your dedicated coordinator during your whole trip to ensure the smooth running of all aspects of your stay in Tenerife
  • ADJUST any elements as necessary when you are in Tenerife (eg. if snow or high winds on Teide means the cable car closes on the day you hoped to take your group up)
  • BACKUP: If one of your students requires medical attention for example, your coordinator can ensure they receive prompt attention either at the accommodation or a nearby medical centre or hospital
  • ASSISTANCE: Our coordinators are trained by the Spanish Red Cross in first aid (particularly important for large groups out in the field) and are qualified lifeguards. They always carry a first aid kit.
  • KIT: need hard hats, high vis vests, torches or other kit for your group? We can help.
  • RISK ASSESSMENT: we assess all of the activities we run for you as well as the transport, accommodation and logistics we provide, which means you can fill in your form to state that GeoTenerife takes responsibility for all aspects of your trip while you are on-island, as long as you abide by our common sense Field Trip Terms and Conditions.

Experts: We are the only UK travel company to have signed collaboration agreements with a range of leading local institutions. This allows us to run internationally-renowned programmes (GeoIntern) and courses (Field School) for university undergraduates. It also means we can supply extraordinary bilingual experts to teach your students during your time in Tenerife.

Accommodation: We are the only UK school trips organiser with our very-own Field Trip Centre on the island. Having worked with hotels for our groups in the past, we came to the conclusion that having our students share their accommodation with other tourists was not acceptable for security but also educational purposes. We wanted to provide an environment for accommodation that was safe, fun and engaging, while also being conducive to learning.We have undertaken a large capital investment to upgrade our historic HQ to accommodate groups in comfort, with all the parallel facilities and amenities required for groups – see accommodation

Focus: We are dedicated to the Canary Islands. We don’t run school trips anywhere else. We like to work in 12-month a year sunshine, with the longest hours of daylight on the planet. It means we get a lot crammed in! We are also passionate about Tenerife as an Island Classroom, and we constantly strive to improve all aspects of your students’ learning experience.

TENERIFE, the perfect Island Classroom

The Island of Tenerife juts proudly out of the Atlantic Ocean to the west of Africa and is the largest of the seven Canary Islands. Its stunningly beautiful yet rugged coastline and warm climate are a true paradise for adventurous travellers and its dramatic landscape provides a perfect backdrop to explore new terrains and seek out new thrills. It is the perfect destination for educational school travel trips. 

For many, the Canary Islands conjure up visions of sun, sea and Sangria. But think again. After 12 million years of volcanic creation, Tenerife isn’t an island to underestimate. Whilst perhaps more commonly thought of as a sun-worshipping destination, it is in fact a biodiversity hot spot with over 300 volcanoes of varying types and sizes. The most prominent, Mount Teide, is in fact the third largest in the world from the sea floor, and the last eruption in its surrounding volcanic complex was in 1909, a mere 110 years ago at Chinyero. 

And despite its small surface area, Tenerife can claim to have an astonishing wealth of ecological diversity. With a widespread network of microclimates and corresponding habitats, there are hundreds of native flora and fauna species, including unique insects, reptiles, birds and over 100 plant species to be found exclusively on the island. With this in mind, it’s a paradise for aspiring botanists, zoologists, scientists and naturalists to seek out wonders of the natural world. 

Mount Teide, a World Heritage Site, is Spain’s only dormant volcano and the eruption of its Pico Viejo vent formed the world’s fifth longest lava tube. With lava fields from a range of different types of volcanic eruptions, it’s a little known fact that Tenerife has a greater range of geology on display than Hawaii. Pyroclastic flows generated by ultra-Plinian type eruptions over 12 million years have deposited a large range of ignimbrites of varying geomorphologies associated to explosive volcanism. This makes Tenerife a unique destination for the study of volcanology and geology. 

GeoTenerife has in-depth knowledge of hidden gems and remarkable sites for your students to see and study – whether you want to stick to the National Park (but away from the crowds) or venture further afield.

Let us surprise and delight you. We pride ourselves on providing unique trips – at a highly competitive price.

Let GeoTenerife take the strain!

TAILOR MADE TRIPS

GeoTenerife can tailor-make your trip to suit your requirements and level of study. For example:

Sample GEOGRAPHY school trip

  • Four nights half board accommodation at our Field Trip Centre
  • Picnic lunches to take out into the field
  • all local transfers and transport around the island
  • field trip coordinator to accompany throughout
  • Introductory lecture at our field trip centre from an expert to introduce your students to Tenerife and everything they will be learning with us
  • THREE DAYS OF EXPERTS: local expert to accompany out into the field to exclusive sites and installations for three days, to teach subjects closely associated to your curriculum. For example, one of our associated experts is a professional volcanologist who can take your students on an intimate behind-the-scenes tour of his work monitoring Teide volcano. We adapt your itinerary to include sites and experts depending on the topics you wish to cover.

Topics to be learnt can include:

  • Changing Places
  • Climate Change
  • Coastal Systems & Landscapes
  • Ecosystems and Biodiversity
  • Geographical Skills
  • Natural Hazards
  • Plate Tectonics
  • Resource Management
  • Rocks, Weathering & Soil
  • Tourism
  • Weather & Climate

PLEASE NOTE: If your group intends to carry out any field work whatsoever on the island, you must secure a relevant permit from the local authorities. GeoTenerife can organise this for you. Failure to do this can result in hefty fines for the group concerned.

We like to include a mixture of educational and fun elements to our trips. In our experience kids learn more and engage better if they are relaxed and enjoying themselves. For this sample itinerary we would suggest:

  • Exclusive morning trek in Teide National Park to study and see extraordinary outcrops away from well-trodden tourist hotspots with a professional volcanologist
  • Private afternoon boat trip to see dolphins accompanied by the expert to explain the volcanic terrain from out at sea looking back at the island
  • Astronomy night: an expert and their telescope will come to our Field Centre to deliver a private lecture and learning experience to your students.
  • Lava tube: choose either the well-trodden Cueva del Viento tour, or we can introduce your students to extraordinary formations off the beaten track with a professional geologist
  • Water Park or farewell BBQ: School trips need to be fun too! We can round off with an afternoon at the waterpark or a farewell bbq at our iconic Field Trip centre.

How it works:

We organise all your accommodation, transport and logistics on-island.

We also organise all your extras, including any teaching requirements either at the accommodation or out in the field; programme your tailor-made itinerary; procure permits and line up any extras like the farewell BBQ we can offer.

We risk assess all our accommodation, logistics and activities, so you don’t have to.

We are members of ABTA, the UK Travel Association, which means all our trips are fully underwritten and you can book with confidence.

Interested?

Email enquiries@geotenerife.com outlining the size and age of your group plus the number of nights you’d like to stay. We will check availability and send you an estimate and a basic outline for your trip.

Once you have decided to go ahead, you need to pay a 25% deposit to book* and we put you straight in touch with your dedicated field trip coordinator who will spend time assessing all your specific requirements for your trip before scheduling your detailed itinerary and setting everything up on your behalf.

The same coordinator will meet you at the airport on arrival, and accompany you throughout your time in Tenerife to ensure the smooth running of every aspect of your trip.

*To book, we require a 25% deposit. Please note your booking is not secure until you have paid your deposit. Balance due 12 weeks before travel. Please note our trips do NOT include flights and those are your responsibility to book. We do collaborate with a local partner that can organise your flights for you and we would be happy to put you in touch, or you can use online comparison sites like SkyScanner. There are so many low cost options available to Tenerife, we just concentrate on what we’re good at…

Delivering great educational trips in the Canaries!

Please note that all our trips are subject to our Fieldtrip Terms and Conditions.

We ask you to ensure you read these thoroughly prior to travelling with us and adhere to them throughout.

“GeoTenerife provides fantastic opportunities for our students to get their hands dirty and learn in an exciting, dynamic and challenging environment. Volcanology, astronomy, geology, whale and dolphin watching and a trip to Siam Water Park made this the best school trip that I have ever been on.” Deputy Head, Danes Hill School, Oxshott, Surrey
“I would love to bring another group to Tenerife as per the trip last year. Last year’s trip was fantastic and we would like to aim for the same schedule and bookings,” Head of Astronomy, Harrow School
“Thank you for all your help GeoTenerife. Great field trip.” Senior Lecturer, Department of Geography, Cambridge University
“The trip around the island and through the National Park to see different landscapes with your expert was outstanding.” Lecturer, Renewable Energy, University of Exeter
“Our collaboration with GeoTenerife works well and allows us to do things that would not be possible to do otherwise.” Senior Lecturer, Geography and Environmental Studies, Northumbria University

Book with confidence

We are a member of ABTA which means you have the benefit of ABTA’s assistance and Code of Conduct. We provide full financial protection for your money.