Lanzarote is generally well known for it’s benign seas, and here’s a quick run down of what you can expect diving in the waters around the island.

Temperature

The island is known for its excellent climate and that extends under the surface as well! Sea temperatures can rise as high as 25 degrees in the summer, and only drop to 17 or 18 in the coolest month of February.

This is one of the best and it perfectly captures what diving is like on the Canary Island of Lanzarote:

What do you think?

A common sight in Lanzarote whilst diving is the angel shark. They can be found, usually relaxing on the sandy sea bed on almost all the dives on the island. If you’re lucky, you’ll even see one swimming or feeding.

Sadly, the species is endangered.

It has recently been placed on the International Union Conservation of Nature’s 100 most endangered species list, with the waters of The Canary Islands being named as one of the shark’s last remaining haunts.

The shark’s decline in numbers stems from pollution issues in other areas, combined with destructive and unsustainable fishing methods.

We think Lanzarote offers some of the best diving in the world, and we’re delighted to report that other people think the same!

Hot news this week is that three German journalists were taken diving in Puerto del Carmen and will be writing it up for their magazines.

The Grouper is one of the bigger fish you’ll see regularly in Lanzarote waters, and they are particularly docile and inquisitive, so if you come across them, you’ll be able to get up close and personal with them.

Here are some key facts about this interesting creature:

• They are in the same family as sea bass
• The word grouper actually comes from the Portuguese word for fish, garoupa
• Groupers are not built for ling distance swimming and stay in their own sea area

We’re often asked how safe diving is in Lanzarote, and the simple answer is that as long as you are diving with one of the approved dive schools, it’s extremely safe!

There are many reasons:

Local diver Dangerous Pete shot some incredible footage recently off Playa Chica in Puerto del Carmen.

It’s certainly the largest bait ball I’ve seen, and just watch as the Barracuda hover and strike at the fish, and see the rays gliding into the tightly formed pack.

Following on from our post about a typical day’s diving in Lanzarote, we found this fabulous video to show you what it’s actually like!

The video was shot at Playa Chica beach in Puerto del Carmen by Zero 7. We love the intro, using Google Earth to pinpoint exactly where the action takes place.

We’re often asked by people thinking of booking a holiday to the island: “What’s it like diving there?”

So here’s a typical day out diving here to give you a feel for what you might get up to:

• You’ll be collected from your accommodation by the dive school you’ve booked with
• They will then take you to their centre where they will kit you out with anything you need, and load up the big van
• For this example, we’ll assume you’re going to the most popular dive area on the island in Puerto del Carmen
• On arrival, you’ll kit up in the sunshine and do all your buddy checks

The Lanzarote parliament (Cabildo) has commissioned a fabulous guide book to diving around the island, complete with submarine maps which have been drawn with painstaking detail, and hundreds of really high quality photos.

You can buy a hard copy for €22 from the various visitors centres on the island, but you can download a version completely free of charge, to view on your PC