Diving Gran Canaria -
Are you ready for some awesome dives?
Looking for where to dive in Gran Canaria? Dive down to the options on this page ...
- Want to know if you can try diving? jump to the DAYCOURSE section
- Want to get a diving qualification or take another PADI course?jump to the PADI COURSE section
- Want to get the most out of one or more days of diving and see the highlights? then read on!
Dives for qualified divers
(PADI, BSAC, CMAS, FEDAS, SSI, or other ISO24801 qualifications.)
Explore the hot-spots of the El Cabrón Marine Reserve
We love the diving in the El Cabrón marine reserve! It is one of the acclaimed 'hot-spots' for marine life diving in the Canaries, where you can find a wide range of Canarian marine Life. With ten beautiful main routes we dive here almost every day, and we almost always see something special such as angel sharks, rays, barracudas, moray eels or even seahorses.
Some of the routes are only known or dived on a regular basis by our instructors, so we can show you lots of little highlights that other schools are unaware of. With this diversity we do not have a fixed schedule, but vary the dive routes, and adjust the plans to suit the experience levels and weather conditions on a daily basis.
We return to the dive centre after the first dive, making us the only PADI dive centre that uses El Cabrón who can offer divers proper toilets, hot drinks and access to the local shops between the two dives. You can sit and relax under the fig, pomegrante, mango, banana and other trees in our private tropical garden. You can bring your own equipment or hire either part or a total set.
After freshening up (or warming up in winter!), we then return to the marine reserve (about a five minute drive) for the second dive, after which everybody returns to the dive centre, we clean up, discuss and log the dives, and then return you to your hotel.
You can choose to dive from one, to five days on our standard packages which include pick-up and collection. If you want to do just one dive a day or a different number of days, or one person in the morning, another in the afternoon, just contact us and we will suggest a schedule which matches your plans.
We dive here in the marine reserve at Arinaga every day of the week apart from Sunday, so
you can choose exactly when you want to dive. The latest diving conditions are shown below,
and you can see if there were any 'special' sightings there as well. For more information on
the dive routes, marine life and history of the reserve, see the pages in the El
Cabrón section of the website, or look at the photos in the photo
galleries.
Scrawled Filefish (Aluterus scriptus)
Night Dives - Explore the dark side!
The El Cabrón marine reserve at night is completely different! A night dive is always full of the unexpected. Some creatures we see regularly during the day disappear; others change colour or try to hide; and a third group appear out of nowhere to become common and ordinary. Top predators such as Angelsharks and Rays are often seen, sometimes just lurking in the edge of the torch beam; while nocturnal species such as golden balearic congers, squid, red-legged octopus, spiny pufferfish, echiurida, and canarian lobsterette can be seen.
We dive at night in the bay of Cabrón, because this has an easy entry, an easy and relaxing dive profile, and yet has a prolific night and colourful life with plenty of changes from daytime. If you have never done a night dive this is a great place to do your first night dive as it is very safe, yet very different from the daytime. If you are planning to do your PADI Advanced course in Gran Canaria then this can count as one of the dives.
Night dives start with a comprehensive briefing in the dive centre, including a briefing on the changes to the marine life, and some of the smaller creatures to look out for. As the sun sets, we head for the beach where we do one dive before returning to the dive centre.
To find out what a night dive is like, or just play with your torch in the dark, try our night dive simulator!
Boat Dives
We organise excursions to other parts of the Island where we dive from boats about once every two weeks. On the West Coast the best dive sites are off-shore and here we dive on the reefs at El Pechel, Arguineguin, Pasito Blanco natural and the Pasito Blanco artificial reef.
If conditions are right, we can take experienced divers to 'La Catedral', a spectacular series of underwater caverns, arches and swim-throughs on the Northern side of the Island.
For all boat diving there are minimum numbers required and there can be minimum qualification or experience levels.
Wreck Dives
Up until the end of 2006 there were several good wreck dive options available in the North of Gran Canaria. However, at the end of 2006 a major new expansion of the port of Las Palmas was started, which has led to some of the wrecks being buried, and others being so close to the harbour wall can no longer be dived.
The wreck of the Russian Hydrofoil in the South East has also been destroyed during a storm. This currently leaves the Mogan wrecks as the only small wreck in the South-east that is worth diving, while in the North the Arona is one of the best wreck dive in the Canary Islands. Still, with great dives in the marine reserve, and some good offshore dives around Sardina del Norte and Mogan there are plenty of good dives still available here.
More details of these dives can be found on our Gran Canaria wreck diving pages.
For all wreck diving there are minimum numbers required, and minimum qualification or experience levels.
Other dive excursions to sample the best of Gran Canaria Diving
We organise occasional excursions to other parts of Gran Canaria to dive in locations such as Sardina del Norte, Caleta Abajo, Playa del Cura and Amadores. If the weather or diving conditions are very poor here in Arinaga we can often dive on the other side of the island where conditions are better. For more general information on diving all around Gran Canaria see our Diving guide to Gran Canaria.
For some special dive excursions there are minimum numbers required and there can be minimum qualification or experience requirements.
Never Dived? try on our Discover Scuba Experience!
Never dived before? We run our special introductory experience or 'try-dive' in the marine reserve most days of the week. We have enhanced the standard format to make your dive more enjoyable by including a briefing on the wonderful marine life here in the el Cabron marine reserve. This experience is open to anyone, with or without previous diving training. After some basic training you enjoy a forty minute guided tour of a sheltered area of the reserve under the supervision of a qualified dive instructor. Our maximum ratio is two students per instructor to give you a safe, relaxed tour of this beautiful area. For more details of the day-course you can read our Gran Canaria Discover Scuba Experience page.
Get your ticket on your PADI Diving Course while in Gran Canaria!
Where better to take a diving course than in a marine reserve, surrounded by fish! Our instructors can help you gain a wide range of diving qualifications, from the basic 'PADI Open Water' up to a semi-professional 'PADI Divemaster' level. We have a great area for doing most of the initial dive skills training, which is sheltered and safe, with other dive routes and sites available to extend skills and provide variety. You can find out more about our PADI training courses in the 'Learn to Dive' section of the website, which has a full description of all our courses.
NO Deposit, Cancellation or Change fees!
