Diving in the Canary Islands

Located out in the Atlantic, close to Morocco, and more specifically the great Sahara Desert. The Archipelago that makes up the Spanish 5 star holidays destination of the Canary Islands, benefit from the warming winds that blow throughout the year from the Sahara, to make it an idyllic destination for Europeans looking for winter sunshine as a way to get away from the harsher climates of Northern Europe.

Around the coasts of all the seven islands are hundreds of diving destinations, which are ideal for highly trained diving enthusiasts and novices alike. One such destination is to be found on the minor island of El Hierro. The dive site at El Ricon on the island considered to be very suitable for novice divers.

The waters at this dive site on the go down to around 20m, and also offer excellent visibility that is usually also hovers at around 20 meters. Here even divers with little experience can enjoy a wealth of sea life, which includes snappers, lobsters, Parrot fish and Porcupine fish who call the stunning coral reefs of this dive site home.

Feurteventura can also offer beginners in the sport of diving great opportunities to expand their underwater horizons. One of these sites is Anfiteatro, which can offer high quality reef rock diving, but in a very safe location.

Visibility in this area is usually around the 20m mark, and the depth of the dive is around 12 or 13m. But despite its shallow waters this site offers some exotic marine life, which includes different varieties of groupers, as well as scorpion fish, and even the mighty barracuda.

Over on the island of Grand Canaria there is a wide range of sites well-suited to newcomers. One of these destinations is Bajada de Caleta, here visibility is reasonably good at around approximately 18m, and it can also offer new and exciting challenges to the novice diver because of its unusual rock beds, which offer an amazing backdrop for viewing the local marine life.

Another hot Canary Island dive destination is found at Malpique, a small town on the island of La Palma. Here even those new to diving can get the opportunity to enjoy the unique experience of swimming between the underwater headstones of a sunken graveyard, to add a nearly twist to even a very experienced divers itinerary.

Also located on La Palma is El Cayon, which offers the opportunity of exploring several grand underwater caves and strange twisted natural rock formations, while enjoying the huge numbers of fish that weave their way through the rocky canyon

There are literally hundreds of sites that can offer every level of diver a huge array of incredible diving experiences. Just a few of the other popular Canary Islands holidays diving destinations will include La Herradura, Desierto, El Rincon, La Restinga and El Bajon.