Diving in Gran Canaria

There are sheltered bays and coves where you can take an experienced or training dive, or deeper wrecks where more experienced divers can explore. As you travel around the islands, there are a number of main dive sites which visitors explore on a regular basis.

Popular Dive Sites

The best diving area on the island is unquestionably the Arinaga Marine Reserve on the east coast, known better as 'El Cabrón', where divers from most of the major dive schools can be found every day of the week. Working towards the south there are several possible entries but these are onto unremarkable shores with variable visibility and little life.

Once past the sandy beaches of Maspalomas and the southern tip of the island, the west coast offers numerous coves and bays between Pasito Blanco and Mogan, and a few off-shore dive sites such as Pasito Blanco, which provide a variety of relatively easy dives at depths of 15 to 25 metres, and several small wrecks to dive on.

The north-west coast is largely inaccessible, but also subject to strong swells and the northerly trades and so rarely dived, with only Sardina del Norte being used on a regular basis.

Finally at Las Palmas, in the North East. the best wreck diving can be found, with La Catedral and Barra de Las Canteras being the other most significant dives. Working clockwise around the coast, it is possible to dive from several bays, inlets and small beaches (though mostly unremarkable). The Gando Shoal has some interesting wrecks, but at present there is no dive school or boat which goes there on a regular basis.

In July 2005 Gran Canaria was declared a World Biosphere Reserve by the UN, and several areas both inland and around the coast have been listed by the EU as Sites of Special Scientific Interest, but to date only the 'El Cabrón' area has formally been proposed to the Ministerio for the status of Marine Reserve.