Scuba Diving Information

Whether you are new to scuba diving or a keen diver, Gran Canaria can be an enjoyable place to dive. The water temperature is about 18C in the winter and 25C in the summer, so you will need a 7mm semi-dry suit in the winter or a 3 or 5mm wetsuit in the summer. You can hire equipment from any dive centre. Expect visibility from about 15 to 30 metres, although this varies.

What Can You See?

Dives include wrecks, caves, walls and volcanic reefs, and the marine life you might see includes angel sharks, octopus, stingrays, barracuda, moray eels, sand eels, trumpet fish, yellow snapper and cuttlefish, amongst others. There are all kinds of possibilities with Gran Canaria scuba diving.

There is some great diving around Gran Canaria, including both both and shore dives. You can find some dramatic underwater landscapes around the volcanic rocks and there are plenty of wreck dives around Las Palmas and some near Mogan.

There are three reserves in Gran Canaria and El Cabron is possibly the best dive site on the island. This area is protected and there are canyons, chimneys and caves to explore. The visibility is usually above 20 metres at El Cabron too.

If you want to book scuba diving in Gran Canaria, you will be asked some personal details, including your age and various health questions. People with ear problems, breathing problems or who has had recent surgery are advised not to dive. Young children can do “bubblemaker” dives which are well-supervised dives in shallow water.

Work for Scuba Diving Instructors

If you are a divemaster or scuba diving instructor, you might be wondering about work. Well, there are a number of dive centres on the island, most of which are located in the south, around Puerto Rico, Arguineguin, Taurito and Mogan, and it might be worthwhile enquiring with them. You can search online for jobs, else email the dive centres individually.

Off the top of my head I can think of Top Diving, Sunset Divers, PR Diving and Davy Jones but you can Google for more and email them about work. A knowledge of Spanish is useful but not vital.

A knowledge of another language apart from English helps too, since not all German, Spanish, Scandinavian, French or Dutch divers speak English. But if you only speak English it’s still worth asking about work.