Clustered on a small flat shelf base of immense cliffs beside a deep harbour, GARACHICO was, along with La Laguna and La Orotava, one of the first crop of important towns on the island. The town's narrow cobbled streets, rough fisherman's cottages and grand town houses were once part of Tenerife's most important sixteenth-century port, until a series of natural disasters plagued the town and ultimately ruined its harbour. But at least for visitors the results of this drama - lava rock-pools in the town's bay and charming old streets frozen in time - are engaging and picturesque.

Originally both town and harbour grew up on the grant of Genoese banker Cristóbal de Ponte who developed the land that he'd received as payback from Alonso de Lugo for financing the island's conquest. Thanks to a deep natural harbour, the town blossomed as a stop-off for numerous ships to the Americas, and a point of export for sugarcane and wine from the north. But in 1645 natural forces interrupted the good times, when a volcanically induced landslide spread over the town, sinking forty boats and killing a hundred people. Undeterred, the town quickly rebuilt its houses and port, only to see much of it destroyed again in 1706 when two slow-moving prongs of lava crept into town. Though no-one died in this eruption, the harbour was mostly filled in and so rendered useless to large-scale commercial traffic - a death knell for the commercial concerns, which moved on to Puerto de la Cruz to the east. In 1905 an earthquake reminded locals of the continued threat posed by nature, while more recent studies of satellite images have revealed worrying and as yet unexplained subsidence of up to 20cm around town

The Town Garachico's few landmarks aren't exciting sights, though the walk around its small centre is well worth it for a closer look at old fishermen's houses as well as ostentatious town houses with ornate and typically Canarian balconies.

One of the town's oldest and most striking buildings is the stocky little harbour-side fort Castillo de San Miguel . Built in the sixteenth century to protect Garachico from pirates, the fort was one of the few buildings to survive the 1706 eruption and is now home to a vaguely diverting rock and fossil collection (daily 10am-6pm; Euros0.60). More engaging are the views from the castle ramparts across the village and out to the Roque de Garachico, a lone rock monolith in the bay.

One of Garachico's unique attractions is a series of rock pools behind the Castillo de San Miguel. The lava here is part of that which closed off the harbour and ruined the town in 1706, but locals have made the best of it by creating paved walkways between the natural bathing pools. Formed as lava cooled on contact with the sea, these are fed and cleaned by the tidal action - making bathing possible only at low tide during calm seas.

Parallel to the main coastal road is the inland Calle Esteban Ponte. This narrow road separates out rows of elegant and mostly wooden town houses and runs to Plaza de Juan Gonzalez de la Torre , which includes a small park whose centrepiece is the Puerta de Tiera , a one-time gate to the town's harbour. There's also an old wooden winepress on display in the park.

To the west of the plaza and park are several narrow streets lined with traditional fishermen's cottages, while to the east is the town's main square, Plaza de la Libertand . The centrepiece of this square is a statue of Simon Bolivar, the nineteenth-century South American freedom fighter. His tenuous connection to Garachico was his grandmother, who emigrated from here after the 1706 disaster.

On the western side of the plaza stands the grand Iglesia Santa Ana , the town's main church, destroyed and rebuilt after the tragedies of 1706, with a fine wood ceiling. On the opposite side of the square, the Convento de San Francisco (Mon-Fri 9am-7pm, Sat 9am-6pm, Sun 9am-2pm; Euros0.60) houses the town's small and ramshackle museum. Its collections include a number of shells, stuffed birds, and an exhibit of locks and keys through the ages. More interesting is the scant information on Garachico's history, particularly its role as a major port. Most rewarding of all, however, is the wander around the extraordinarily pretty old wood balconies and atriums of these former convent buildings.

Finally, fans of the elegant and accomplished woodwork on balconies around Garachico might like to visit a small museum at the western end of the seafront, the Museo Capinteria Antigua at Avda República de Venezuela 17 (daily 9am-7pm; Euros1.50). Old artisans' tools have been beautifully displayed here alongside photos of their craft around town.

Many of the town's restaurants are located along its seafront strip and specialize in seafood. The most strikingly positioned of these is El Caleton, between the Castillo de San Miguel and the waves that crash into the town's volcanic rock pools. The restaurant offers a wide selection of reasonably priced fish and meat dishes, including light snacks such as sandwiches and soups, though the food is generally nothing special. A better bet for good seafood is the slightly more expensive and grander Casa Gaspar , Avda República de Venezuela 20 (closed Sun), beside the town's harbour. A good selection of fresh fish and seafood - what's on offer depends on the luck of the local catch - can be picked from an iced display and is priced by weight. Further back towards the town centre, at no. 9 on the same street is Bar Bacco , which serves excellent pizzas, though it's only open Friday, Saturday and Sunday after 7pm and so popular that you're likely to have to wait for a table.

For good, inexpensive food it's also worth investigating the bars and bistros that are scattered about the town's seafront and centre, around the Plaza de la Libertand. Casa Ramón , Esteban de Ponte 4, is a particularly good choice, not so much for the limited menu of excellent seafood dishes, or the distinctive, spicy home-made mojo , but more for the atmosphere of the old, dingy wood-clad restaurant and the manner of its elderly proprietor, who makes you feel as though you've dropped by your Canarian grandmother for lunch