There will be plenty of things for the family to do.
Siam Park is amazing, your brother (and you) will love it, I would say though that most of the rides have height restrictions so your son will be a bit restricted, however the artificial beach and lazy river are worth the entrance fee on their own. If you buy the tickets in advance there will be a discount and it saves you queuing at the entrance, you just go straight in - also there is a free bus to the Park.
Your son should like Aqualand water park, more rides suitable for younger people and dolphin show.
A boat trip to see the whales and dolphins is a must, 2 hour trip is ample and you can go from either Los Cristianos port or Puerto Colon in Las Americas.
The beaches are great with plenty of watersports to take part in.
Jungle Park just outside Los Cristianos will be enjoyed by all age groups - again, like Siam Park & Aqualand there is a free bus.
If you dont mind it being a longer, more tiring day there are trips to Loro Parque in the North, it has won many awards and is spectacular.
You will be able to take your pick from the choice of restaurants, cuisine from whichever nationality you like and and karaoke is not the norm!
Local buses are cheap and can take you most places on the island.
It is possible to walk on promenade from the far end of Los Cristianos right through to other side of Las Americas, known now as Costa Adeje, and onwards to La Caleta, lovely unspoilt little fishing village.
Hopefully you will love it - dont go with any pre-conceptions and I think you will be surprised

Thanks very much for the useful information

Do you know where the nearest supermarket is to the lagunapark2 apartments? Ive heard that the marcadona (sp?) supermarket tends to be cheaper, and i should buy the local products rather than the imported english stuff.

I think all we will be using the supermarket for is for things like orange juice, fresh bread, crisp and snacks, and maybe a few bottles of wine to drink on our balcony. (we cant really stay out late as it wont be fair on our 6year old, so it looks like we will be heading back to our apartment around half10 at night)

Unfortunately Laguna Park 2 is up a hill across the motorway so easy to walk down to the beach but a struggle back - however for 4 it wont break the bank using a taxi.
The cheapest supermarket is Mercadona, which is down the escalator at the San Eugenio shopping centre which you will see on the way to beach etc.
Admiral Travel near to Laguna 1 is ok for money exchange and excursions.
Eating out can be as cheap or expensive as you want it to be. If you like Italian, Verdes, facing the shopping centre is lovely.
If you walk down the road to the left of Verdes, past the Jardin Tropical hotel, you will come to a mini roundabout at the bottom. There you will find restaurant called Gran Paella Valencia, it has the biggest and best selection of fresh fish, steaks etc at a very reasonable price. Be prepared to queue if you go at night.
Not expert on Indian or Mexican food but sure someone will be able to help.
A lot of places around are doing good value 3 course meals for under 10euros a head - if you like Canarian, head for a row of restaurants just past the bus station, there you will find 3 or 4 good value places all used by the locals, eg El Gomero.
If you walk into Los Cristianos El Cine is a famous local eating place with small but extremely good tapas menu.

Hi,

We stay in Los Cristianos and tend to use the 'local' Mercadona for our main shop - there are not too many Mercadonas around the area as they are reasonably large supermarkets, our local one is still a 20 minutes walk away. I'm not sure if there is one near to you. For other stuff we go to the local Spanish supermarket- always busy and noisy !

I would suggest you avoid Nettos they tend to be very expensive and normally empty - I wonder why! Spar is OK but again can be more expensive than Mercadona.

Eating out can be very reasonable and you are well placed for loads on places to eat around the Puerto Colon area. We were over in Oct/Nov and I had the largest 'mixed grill' you will ever have for around 6€, fish was also good value. This was at Gran Paella Valencia.

Having eaten, the walk back up to where you are staying you would certainly walk off your meal - maybe a taxi would be the better option !

Enjoy

Regards, Chris

PS While I was penning and then posting this reply Vivien-Marie got in there first and clearly is more able than me to give greater detail than myself. I will say that the mixed grill was fantastic ! good quality meats and freshly cooked

Great minds TFS

Thanks for the detailed replies, they have certainly helped me a lot.

I have heard you can buy a ticket for the Aqualand water park and the jungle park which will be a combined ticket, and it works out quite reasonable.
But i am a bit wary of the aqualand waterpark because some people say in winter most of the slides are shut. is this true?

Siam park looks amazing, but i think we will have to give this a miss because my son will want to go on the rides, and he is too small
thanks again

Nicola

Yes you can buy a combined ticket that gives a bit of a saving.
Cant see why any of the rides should be closed at Aqualand simply because of the season, its a year round destination.
Obviously you can be unlucky and get a bad week weather wise but last winter the temperature was over 70F a lot of the time.
Suggest you check the 5 day weather forecast on http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=tenerife+sur while you are out there, then you can decide which is the best day to go on a trip.
(If the link doesnt work its http://www.wunderground.com then type in Tenerife Sur for destination)
Same with whale and dolphin trips, I would only book in advance if I knew the weather was going to be good and the sea calm!
Anything else just ask.

Hiya If you want to find out about the different excursions that are available for the family in Tenerife try a website called Tenerife Sunshine. It lists many different trips and tours. They also have offices in Las Americas. You can book online if something takes your fancy.
I have used them and found their staff very friendly and helpful (and english). They are also cheaper than booking through your holiday rep at the hotel.
Enjoy your trip and try to see a cabaret show called Mister Sister. Not to be missed.

We're going to Tenerife, to El Medano at the end of Feb for 2 weeks, there is myself, my wife and our daughter, I've already read up on what we can do while we're there but I was wondering if anyone can give me any advice on eating out and the prices, we don't tend to have starters or desserts so it's mainly main courses and our little girl eats from our plates as a meal is wasted on her.

Any advice?

My sister went last year with her partner and 5 year old son and told me they ate in the apartment almost every night and went to a few parks and spent almost £1,000 in a WEEK!!!

Thanks in advance!

I think they must have eaten loads of porky pies !!!!

Gran Paella Valencia great food and very cheap also on colon harbour up the steps next to the irish rose bar another great place is the la pergola does 3 course meals for 8 euros the lamb is great and tomato soup
loads of cheap eating places
and loads doing larger for 1 euro a pint but beware some can charge more just ask when you sit down ask for 1 euro pint as we where done
have a great hol

Not too worried about the booze prices as I don't really drink and neither does the good lady in my life. Well either of them considering the other is 2 lol!

We do like to enjoy a few cocktails every so often or a couple of beers on the old balcony now and again you know!

So we needn't worry too much about money for food then, perhaps budget with about £10 per person per day for main meals? £280 for the whole holiday(ish)... we're planning on doing what we did in Gran Canaria with lunch, buy rolls and stuff from a supermarket which last a couple of days and of course the yellow cheese Pringles (must have on holiday). Breakfast HAS to be reasonable in different cafes doesn't it? I've never been on holiday ANYWHERE and paid more than £3 for breakfast!

Any clues?