Diving in Lanzarote

On biodiversity, possibly: visitors used to the Red Sea or Southeast Asia find fewer fish here. The draw is volume and ease: caves, arches and walls from a beach, mild water most of the year and enough routes to fill a week.

Plan for a thick suit with hood and gloves from winter into spring. Official winter averages sit around 18 C, but divers measured 15 to 16 C in Lanzarote and La Graciosa in February 2016, and that gap decides between a mid-weight suit and a thicker one. Many local guides wear drysuits, and wind at the surface chills divers between dives even when the water is mild. Summer is comfortable in a lighter suit.

Playa Chica is the usual self-guided choice. Centres hire out tanks and weights to certified divers, the entries are straightforward and the wall stays in view. A rental car makes the other shore sites and the Orzola jetty easier to reach.

The sheltered bay and its sandy shallows suit Open Water, and octopus and seahorses turn up there. The wall beside it drops well past Open Water depth, so the full routes do not stay within that limit. Agree a turn depth with your buddy and let the guide set the route.

Divers disagree. First-time visitors often find the sculptures about the refugee crisis moving and recommend one dive, while repeat divers call it a single-visit curiosity. The installation lies at 12 to 15 m on sand at Playa Blanca and is dived through authorised centres, usually at a higher price than a standard guided dive.

Puerto del Carmen suits the shore rotation and has most of the centres. Playa Blanca is shallower and calmer, with the sculpture installation close by, and Puerto del Carmen centres run day trips there, so either base reaches both. Divers who want a quiet family stay alongside the diving tend to pick Playa Blanca.

The south and south-east, around Puerto del Carmen and Playa Blanca, are sheltered and dive almost every day. Mala and the north-east shut when the wind builds, and the Chinijo trips depend on a calm sea, so book those for early in your stay and keep spare days.

When weather allows. Boats go from Orzola or La Graciosa, and Lanzarote centres usually run a La Graciosa day in good conditions. Buceo La Graciosa was reported still operating in late 2023, though its current schedule is worth confirming. La Burrera is the reason to try: the algal forest there has survived the urchin grazing that stripped it elsewhere in the archipelago.