The island offers unbeatable conditions
for diving, like swimming through a dense curtain of brightly
coloured fish, or feeding large sting rays. There are
some thirty dive sites distributed all along the coastline,
where you can discover the fascinating marine life and
the remains of ship wrecks. Las Galletas has some of the
best dive sites.
The most frequently seen fish on rocky bottoms are the
dusky grouper, comb grouper, parrot fish, gold lined bream,
white bream, conger eels, moray eels, combers, glass eyes,
scorpion fish, cardinal fish and wreck fish. On mixed,
sand and stone bottoms, you find dentex and, couch´s
sea bream, Pandora, red bream, black bream and drum, while
on mud and sand bottoms, you will find mullet, sting rays,
angel sharks, hound sharks and Canary hake.
The Tenerife shoreline conserves marine ecosystems with
a large number of endemic species. You can find interesting
sea turtles, like the loggerhead turtle, and a resident
population of pilot whales off the southern coasts of
the island. Bottle nosed dolphins are also frequently
spotted. Both these species of
cetaceans live permanently in the channel between Tenerife
and La Gomera.
Dive Site: El Meridian
Description: WWII Minesweeper
Depth: 30 metres
WW2 German minesweeper used in later life as a dolphin viewing ship from Los Cristianos. The vessel was purposely sunk on 23rd October 2005. This dive is very interesting as the wreck is intact and upright. We have spotted a resident grouper on numerous dives and lots of rays. As the wreck has not been here long, it will make an interesting artificial reef for the future as marine life starts to flourish.
Dive Site: The Stingrays, Los Chuchos
Description: Stingray Dive with Small fishing boat
Depth: 22 metres
This is a fantastic dive site that is rated by everyone who dives here. As soon as you descend down the anchor line you will see the stingrays. There is also a small ship wreck. Within the hull of the wreck you will find moray eels, small puffer fish and scorpion fish. A camera is must for this site!
Dive Site: El Condesito
Description: Wreck
Depth: 21 metres
In the early 70's the ship "El Condesito" hit rocks while it was destined for Los Cristianos. Its cargo was cement bags. It is home to abundant marine life including many trumpet fish, glass eyes, and parrotfish and amber jacks. The propeller is at 18 meters with the deck at 10 meters, this makes it an exciting dive site for open water divers and novice divers. To the stern is a drop off at 35 meters and makes an interesting diversion for the more experienced diver.
Dive Site: El Puertito
Description: Turtle Dive
Depth: 12+
After a 20 minute boat ride we find the quiet bay of the village of El Puertito. This is the perfect site for seeing turtles. Cuttlefish, butterfly rays, bull rays and octopus are also seen at this dive site. Dive 24-7 have also found a sheer reef close to this site – so the more experience diver can have an added bonus to an already fantastic site.
Dive Site: PalmMarCaves
Description: Cave and scenic dive
Depth: 40 max
This is a real treat for the advanced diver and it is only 10 minutes by boat. The cave itself is a mystery as no-one knows how long the interior tunnel actually is or where it leads. There is a memorial cross outside the cave and bearing this in mind we take a look inside, before moving on. The wall is home to moray eels. There is a deep part to this dive taking us to 40 meters. There are shoals of Sea Bream and Zebra Fish, Octopus and Ornate Wrasse. There are also Angel Sharks, Atlantic Rays, and sightings of Dolphins and Pilot Whales.
Dive Site: The Steps
Description: Volcanic Formation
Depth: 40 max This site is 10 minutes from the harbour and boasts both spectacular scenery and fish life. The dive starts shallow on the first of a series of volcanic steps, which run from the shore out to sea. The formation is identical to the Giants Causeway on the North Coast of Ireland. Dropping over the side of the "Steps" you pass Trumpet Fish and Zebra and Sea Bream, to the bottom at about 18m. Turning right we come to a large swim through and a large shoal of Roncardores. Don’t forget the cameras! When we venture on out to sea (25m) you will see Moray and Rays. This is a sandy bottom so look out for Angle Sharks. We then make our way back towards the step formation to shallow off and look out for passing Barracuda.
Dive Site: AliBabaCaves
Description: Cave
Depth: 40
We descend to a rocky platform at 30 metres. From here we drop over the side of the platform and descend to a white sand sea bed at 38 metres, where we will find Ali Baba's Cave. We can see large groupers, stingrays, angel shark, glass eye fish, jacks and barracuda.
Dive Site: Coral Arch
Description: Scenic
Depth: 24
The seabed here is covered with spectacular basaltic rock formations where lava has produced three large arch shaped formations. Two memorials, one to Jacques Cousteau and another to a local diver will be seen as we make our way through and around the arches. We will see black moray, brown moray, trumpet fish and if the time of year is right, the occasional angel shark.
Dive Site: Four Finger Reef Description: Reef
Depth: 18 – 40
The formation of this dive site is literally like four giant fingers. It is a reef but in between the fingers huge gullies harbour the large enenimes. There are lots of Trumpet Fish, Glass Eyes and Moray, Octopus and Black Coral on this site.
Tekkie Dive Sites
Dive Site: Rock de Fabien
Description: Rock / Pinnacle
Depth: 25 - 70max
We have started diving this site and already the other centres are getting curious. Because of the depth we never dive with a single air supply. (stage bottles can be rented) Fabiens Rock is a spectacular site. As you descend you will see it completely covered in Coral and the white sand reflects lots of light. Atlantic Rays, Trumpet Fish also Black and Tiger Moray are seen regularly on this dive. We only dive this site on slack tides.
New Dive Sites
Dive Site: Ayers Rock
Description: Rock / Sheer Walls
Depth: 24 - 65max
This site was found recently and one of our divemasters named it after Ayers Rock in Australia due to the formation. This is a truly exciting dive with gullies, sheer walls and canyons. The marine life is incredible due to no-one ever diving this site. With Atlantic Rays an abundance, lots of groups of Damsel, Wrasse and Bream. There is Starfish, large Conch Shell, Tiger and Black Moray. Four of the divers diving this site spotted a Wahoo. According to local Spanish fishermen, a Wahoo is a rare and expensive fish! Dive Site: Los Abrigos
Description: Reef
Depth: 24 - 45max
While searching for new sites approximately 1km offshore, David our skipper spotted a fin in the water. People on the boat shouted Shark! As we approached, to our delight, we saw that it was a Sun Fish! (Mola Mola) Everyone put their masks on as quickly as they could and got into the water. Everyone marveled at the site of this species for about 2 minutes before it gracefully moved on.
