Calypso Dive Center

Calypso Dive Center has run from Hotel Dunas Mirador in Sonnenland, Maspalomas since 1996, on the south coast of Gran Canaria. The centre positions itself as the area's only PADI 5-Star operator covering Maspalomas and Playa del Ingles.

House diving centres on El Cabron and its neighbouring Risco Verde, both dived by day and by night, with detailed site guidance built into the centre's own trip planning. For more experienced divers, boat trips run north to wreck sites off Las Palmas, around 50 kilometres away.

The course ladder runs from Bubblemaker for children through Divemaster, with specialties covering nitrox, night diving, deep diving, and Project AWARE's coral reef conservation programme. Multi-dive packages scale down in price the more you book, and a 10% rental discount rewards divers who bring their own kit. Six languages are spoken: English, Spanish, German, French, Polish and Italian. A dive-and-stay option pairs courses with the on-site Calypso Beach House apartment for divers who want to stay close to the water.

Reviews for Calypso run mixed-to-positive: 4.7 out of 5 across 129 TripAdvisor reviews, with instructors praised repeatedly for patience during open-water courses. Guides get credit for clear, well-organised lessons even on the busier multi-day packages.

One detailed account describes a rougher edge: a diesel smell aboard a third-party boat used for a specific trip, and a course that skipped a warm-up dive after a long layoff. The reviewer frames it as a lower-budget experience rather than a serious complaint. Outside that account, no pattern of safety concerns turned up in the reviews.