SCUBA Diving in Gran Canaria
Your guide to some amazing dives!

Gran Canaria is one of the best places to dive in the Canaries and Europe!

• See sharks, rays, nudibranchs, moray eels, big shoals, and lots of colour
• Our amazing climate that means you can dive all year round in wetsuits
• the sub-tropical waters are warmed by the gulf stream.
• the variety and colours of the marine life will amaze you!
• Explore wrecks, reefs, caves, caverns and a variety of habitats
• The most southerly of the main Canary Islands so warmest in winter

"I didn't expect to see so much!" is a common response after diving in Gran Canaria for the first time.

Coming to the Canary Islands, and looking for the best places for SCUBA diving?

Visitors have been enjoying the amazing variety of marine life at the number one dive site on the island, the El Cabrón Marine Reserve for over 20 years. You can join us on the short ride to this wonderful dive site from our dive centre in Arinaga. You will find that the volcanic history of the area has created some incredible underwater scenery and you can swim through natural rock arches, as you explore the caves and cliffs of the area. There is very little that cannot be seen in Arinaga - as we have rays, sharks, seahorse, spiny pufferfish, nudibranch, cuttlefish, cliffs, caves, deep dives and lots more.

The Spanish national newspaper El Páis said don't miss the most popular site "El Cabrón" or Arinaga Marine Reserve. You will see how the combination of beautiful underwater scenery, and ten amazing dive routes filled with abundant and varied marine life in big shoals have made this the most popular dive site on Gran Canaria.

Playa de Arinaga is close enough to both the main resorts of Maspalomas in the south, and the capital Las Palmas in the north, so that it can be reached within 30-35 minutes from 80% of the most visited parts of the Island.

Your dives from our award winning Dive Centre at Casa Limon are right next to this hot-spot for diving and marine life. Our training and courses are so highly rated that we achieved the PADI 'Outstanding' Award.

What will you see when Scuba Diving in Gran Canaria?

You can buddy up with other experienced scuba divers here all year round and you will always see a wide selection of amazing marine life. You can see endangered species such as angel sharks, filefish and rays in winter and spring, sea-horses and triggerfish in summer and shimmering schools of grunts, bogas, and damselfish in all seasons. For your camera there are brightly coloured glasseyes, tiger morays, cleaner shrimps, nudibranchii, and cephalopods.

You don't have to dream about diving in Europe with colourful fish and sharks and rays - you just need to come down to Gran Canaria. The clear blue waters surrounding the Canaries are 'sub-tropical' which means that they are just warm enough for some tropical species such as trumpetfish, parrotfish and damselfish, and yet cool enough for European and temperate species such as bream, wrasse, groupers and angel sharks. This mixture makes the underwater world of Canarian waters the best place to dive in Europe with great variety of species and water temperatures than never drop below 18ºC.

You can join our mature multi-lingual instructors and divemasters as they visit the best sites on the island for diving, which in addition to local shore dives may include boat dives in other parts of the island to show you stunning underwater scenery, unusual fish or mysterious wrecks. You can rely on our their expert knowledge of our 'local patch' to show you the hidden secrets of el Cabrón, such as the hiding places of the rare spiny pufferfish, or other rare species such as Caribbean soldierfish, and 'special places' in the El Cabrón Marine Reserve such as the local cleaning stations or hidden caves.

Typical Diving Conditions in Arinaga

We frequently hear divers say "I didn't expect to see so much life in the Atlantic!". You will find that the water is clear with average underwater visibility between 10 and 20 metres, and it is warm enough for you to wear a wetsuit all year round, only dropping to 18ºC at the end of February. You will discover that the dive spots are full of marine life from the Atlantic, the Mediterranean and the tropics in all seasons.

You can see what it is like to dive here on this short video taken while shore diving Gran Canaria in winter 2018 (diving in January and February)). Below are some typical highlights. Enjoy other Gran Canaria diving videos on our YouTube Channel

Your Scuba Diving options in Arinaga - Try, Learn, Refresh, Explore or Snorkel

You are really lucky if you choose the Arinaga area for your diving experience, as the area has over ten main dive routes with different levels of challenge.

There are areas such as Playa del Cabrón and Risco Verde where you can try SCUBA diving, or do a refresh or take a course.

If you are looking to build your skills and experience, or look for some of the 'bigger stuff', then the Table Top, Hole in the Wall, Punta de la Monja, and Punta de la Sal all offer different scenery with arches, caves, walls and different habitats for the photographers.

You can also dive or snorkel in really easy areas such as Zoco Negro or Playa del cabrón for your course or snorkelling exercise

Choose your Diving Trips

You can easily pick an experience at your level, as we cater for divers with all levels of skill from none to expert. If you have no experience you can do a one day PADI Discover Scuba Diving experience where you can explore an easy dive-site from the shore with an instructor.

If you have a diving card or qualification (such as PADI, SSI, BSAC, NAUI, FEDAS or others) you can join our groups of experienced scuba divers as they explore the deeper parts of the reserve with the most interesting features. Choose the programmes that suit you and your diving partners best, and you can also hire all the dive equipment you need. We have air tanks in 10, 12 and 15 litres and NITROX is also available.

If you want to master the art of Scuba Diving then you can take a PADI course, all of which are now based on the amazing PADI e-learning programmes that let you get all your theory done before you come to Gran Canaria to learn the skills in the sea in a small group.

Check out these options below:

Where to Try SCUBA Diving in Gran Canaria

Taking your first breathe underwater, and then realising within minutes that you can now explore the beautiful and varied the underwater world should be on everybody's 'bucket list'. If you choose to do it at a dive site with lots of varied marine life, such as Playa del Cabrón or Risco Verde in Gran Canaria, then your experience will remain with you for many years.

You will be surprised at these dive sites as they have colourful fish such as Blue-fin Damselfish, Atlantic Damselfish, Parrotfish and the ubiquitous Turkish Wrasse or tiny pufferfish creating their own spaces all over the reef. Then when you look down you will probably see striped mullet, several different types of bream, or the secretive wide-eyed flounders on the sea-floor beneath you. Just as you are getting used to the variety your instructor will start to find some of the more interesting creatures on the reef such as octopus, cuttlefish, or the spooky arrowhead spider crabs.

Learn to dive on your PADI Open Water Diver Course in Gran Canaria

We are one of the top ten PADI Five Star Dive Centres in the Canaries, and already hold three PADI Certificates of Excellence. You will be taught by PADI Elite Instructors who are mainly at the senior MSDT level, and fluent in English, German, Spanish, and Dutch, and you can find the right course for you from the complete list of all our PADI courses including our highly rated PADI Open Water Diver Course or the two-day PADI SCUBA Diver Course or our PADI Advanced Open Water Course!. You can use the PADI e-learning system to complete all the theory before you arrive at our dive centre.

Because your PADI Open Water Course uses the El Cabrón Marine Reserve, you get to see almost the complete and authentic spectrum of Canarian underwater life, from small colourful creatures such as nudibranchs, damselfish, cleaner shrimps and bright red starfish, through amazing creatures such as cuttlefish, stargazer and trumpetfish, to top end species such as barracudas, angel sharks, rays and even the occasional turtle. There is some dramatic underwater scenery and you may swim through natural rock arches, and explore the caves and cliffs. Your last dive of the course will normally take you to the area with most marine life at around 18m.

Looking to Refresh your skills and dive again?

You are not alone!.. If you have not dived since before the COVID pandemic (or longer!) then you can still join us to go through a personalised refresh in one of the shallower sites in the marine reserve, where we can help you rebuild your confidence, so you can explore underwater again.

What will you see when you explore the El Cabrón dive sites?

As we are the closest PADI 5 Star Diving Centre to this amazing high-energy dive site, your professional dive guide will know where to show you the highlights, the sights and the secrets better than anyone else. Our team is mature, speak English, Spanish, German, and Dutch , and we have three PADI Elite Instructors.

With our reputation, facilities and experienced staff it is little wonder we are one of the most popular PADI 5-star Dive Centres on our island and we offer a great dive experience for everyone from complete beginners up to experienced scuba divers. We are a family friendly diving centre where your safety is highly important, as is making sure you enjoy Gran Canaria's most famous diving site.

The first time you dive in the subtropical waters of the El Cabrón area you will be amazed not only by the huge shoals of fish but also the variety of colours and species, from minute hermit crabs and vivid damselfish up to intriguing but critically endangered species including angel sharks. The relatively low levels of sea urchins, and good plankton production, means that this area still has thriving habitats and good biodiversity compared to many of the other dive sites in the Canaries.

Snorkelling in Gran Canaria

If you are looking for somewhere to snorkel in Gran Canaria, then some of the best sites can be found in the El Cabrón Marine Reserve. Here you will see a wide variety of life thanks to the abundant levels of sea-grass, where the fish reproduce in spring. You will find the common yet colourful species such as Wrasse, Blue and Atlantic damselfish, Parrotfish, Pufferfish, Breams, and Sea Cucumbers and you may see lizardfish, weeverfish, blennies or razorfish. If you are very lucky you can see octopus, cuttlefish and even angelsharks and rays in just a few metres of water. You can choose either a guided snorkel excursion, or to just rent the equipment and snorkel on your own.