Diving in Gran Canaria

Gran Canaria's diving runs the length of a volcanic island in the northeast Atlantic, roughly 150 kilometres off Morocco. Five distinct zones ring the coast, each built around its own port: the marquee Natura 2000 reef at El Cabron on the east, a calmer wreck-and-cavern coast near the capital, and a sheltered northwest bay that keeps working when swell shuts everything else down. Sandy plains break up the volcanic rock throughout, hosting angel sharks, rays and garden eels.

The reputation among divers who have covered several Canary Islands is consistent: reliable and varied rather than spectacular, with El Hierro and Lanzarote usually named first for drama. What sets Gran Canaria apart is the pairing of a genuine protected-reef site with an easy beginner scene minutes from the main resort strip. El Cabron delivers arches, caves, walls and a recreational plateau from one shore entry, and its winter angel sharks are the single sighting most visitors travel here for. Close by, La Gerardia commits an entire advanced dive to one gold-coral colony.

The south around Arguineguin and Puerto Rico is unhurried: sheltered bays, short boat rides, and enough natural and purpose-sunk wrecks to fill a week without repeating a profile. Sardina del Norte, tucked into the northwest, runs eight named routes from a single jetty and has quietly earned a reputation among centres as one of Spain's best dive bays. Las Palmas and La Isleta add cavern and wreck diving close to the capital, thinner on operator coverage but useful when the weather window favours the north.

Base yourself by the diving you want. The south resort towns, Puerto Rico, Arguineguin, Pasito Blanco and Puerto de Mogan, put you closest to sheltered training water and the wrecks; Arinaga, about 40 minutes east, is the shore-dive base for El Cabron and La Gerardia. No permit or fee applies to any dive on the island, including inside the El Cabron Natura 2000 site. The one document worth arranging in advance is a land-access permit for the unpaved track into El Cabron and La Gerardia; several centres solve this by transferring divers from Arinaga in a rugged vehicle rather than leaving it to a rental car. Diving runs year-round: pack a 5mm wetsuit for summer, a 7mm or semi-dry for winter, and aim for December to April if angel sharks are the priority.

Volcanic in origin: lava tongues, arches, tunnels, caverns and drop-offs cut into rocky reef, with sand plains between the rock, plus maerl (rhodolith) beds and seagrass meadows in the northwest.