El Cabrón Spain

Small boulders in the shallows give way to gutters and walls, and the walls step down to grey sand at about 20 metres. Most guided dives work that gradient: out over the rock from the shore, along the reef edge where the sand fringe begins, and back through ledges and caves. The shallow boulders hold soles, flounders and a colony of garden eels; under the ledges sit groupers, glasseyes, scorpionfish, locust and slipper lobsters and sleeping rays.

The routes differ in what they ask of you. The Hole on the Wall line swims through a chimney and an arch, comes up to a shoal of roncadores and returns along the wall. The Arco del Cabrón is the longer route, about 60 minutes: a shallow start, a large natural arch, sand, then back over the rock. Current can be decisive there and sets the route on the day, and getting in and out is the hardest part of the dive.

After dark the beach at Playa del Cabrón becomes the entry for night dives over the rocky shallows, with mating sea hares, a broadtooth conger and a white-spotted octopus on the sand. A juvenile angel shark under 30 centimetres has turned up on one of those night dives.

El Cabrón is a whole stretch of coast with ten or more routes inside it, some for beginners and courses and others for experienced divers, below the remains of the extinct Montaña de Arinaga volcano. The depths run from easy 8-14 metre dives through 18-20 metre recreational routes to one at 30 metres for the local gorgonia.

The angel shark is what many divers come for. Common angel sharks lie on the sand at about 9 metres, and they are seen all year. Sightings climb once the water falls below 21 C and stay high until it warms again, which makes December to June the better window. September is not the best month for them.

The shore entry is reached by unpaved tracks inside the protected area. Driving them needs a vehicle permit, with a fine otherwise, so centres run transfers. Entries and exits are over rock or from the beach, depending on the route.

Recreational fishing goes on in the surrounding water, and angel sharks have been freed from nets at 6-12 metres. On the Arco route a line-cutter or knife is mandatory, and a surface marker buoy goes with it.