What makes diving in Lanzarote so special
Lanzarote is one of those islands that does not run out quickly underwater.
You can dive all year round, there are more than 50 dive sites, and the mix of scenery means one dive never feels too much like the next: white sand, volcanic rock, walls, caves, wrecks and areas with a lot of marine life.
The water temperature usually sits around 18 ºC in winter and 24 ºC in summer.
Visibility is often around 20 to 25 metres, so it nearly always feels good to get in the water. But that is not the only reason.
The real good thing is that Lanzarote has a lot of personality underwater.
Once you start moving between different parts of the island, you quickly realise there is always something different to discover.
How to choose the best dive sites in Lanzarote
In Lanzarote, it is not just about choosing a “nice” dive site. If you want to find the best option for you, four things make a big difference: your level, the depth, whether it is shore or boat diving, and the sea conditions.
Level
Some areas feel easier and others are more demanding.
Depth
From easy, relaxed dives to deeper profiles
Access
Shore or boat diving
Conditions
Wind, visibility and the direction of each area can change the whole experience
If you enjoy walls, caves, wrecks or lava tunnels, you will notice very quickly that not all parts of the island offer the same kind of diving. That is why, before we go into each area, it is worth understanding what each one really has to offer.
The best diving areas in Lanzarote, one by one
Diving in Playa Blanca
Level
low / medium
Typical depth
up to 18 m
Access
boat / shore
Diving in Playa Blanca, Lanzarote is one of those options where you get in the water knowing that, most of the time, a comfortable, enjoyable and easy dive is waiting for you.
It works especially well when you are looking for relaxed dives, good visibility, white sand, volcanic rock and plenty of marine life, without needing to go into deeper or more demanding profiles.
Museo Atlántico
You probably already know why so many people want to do this dive. You drop down over white sand and, all of a sudden, the sculptures begin to appear.
It feels very different from the rest and really has an identity of its own.
Playa Flamingo
Playa Flamingo usually leaves people with a very good feeling.
You start in shallow water and, very quickly, the rock wall appears, with schools of fish, giant anemones, angel sharks, stingrays, rays, nudibranchs and plenty going on.
It is one of those sites where something is usually happening.
Las Coloradas
If there were one word for this dive, it would be this: beautiful.
It is one of those sites you want to take slowly, because there is always something to look at: wall, ledges, cavities, volcanic rock and little corners where you can spot giant anemones in incredible colours.
A really rewarding dive for people who enjoy exploring, and a very good one for coming across angel sharks, stingrays and plenty of marine life.
El Emisario
Here, a lot of the appeal is in the underwater landscape.
You follow a volcanic rock wall that contrasts really nicely with the white sand and, halfway through the dive, you come across the large pipes that give the site its name.
It is an enjoyable dive to follow and there is often plenty of life if you go slowly and keep looking around.
Charlotte Reef (Montaña Roja)
This is a calm dive, with beautiful volcanic rock scenery and a gentle descent that makes it very comfortable underwater.
At around 18 metres, there is a cave where you often find large groupers and a giant conger eel, so it mixes the feeling of a relaxed dive with a more interesting ending.
Las Lenguas
Here, the scenery is the main thing. White sand, clear water, colourful fish and a very clean, bright feeling underwater.
It is one of those dives you enjoy more because of how pleasant the whole setting feels than because of one single big highlight.
Faro Pechiguera
Within Playa Blanca, this is already a more serious option.
The underwater landscape changes quite a lot, with a large rocky formation dropping from 20 down to 50 metres, and when there is current the area fills with much more life.
It has that blue-water feel and that sense that something could turn up, which a lot of divers really like.
Punta Berrugo
This is a very fun dive to explore.
You have white sand, volcanic rock, a wall, caves and unusual shapes that make the scenery keep changing all the way through.
A very good choice for anyone who does not want a flat dive, but one that keeps you interested from beginning to end.
Timanfaya
It is not the most famous site in the area, but it has plenty of personality.
Rock formations reaching into the sand give it a very particular look and, when visibility is good, it is a real pleasure to dive.
One of those places that may not be first on every list, but then ends up making your dive.
Calimera Reef
This is a calm, easy-to-read and very comfortable dive.
With a maximum depth of around 13 metres and marine life from the start, it works really well for divers looking for something simple, pleasant and uncomplicated.
It is also a very useful site for improving technique or getting your confidence back.
Diving in Puerto del Carmen
Level
medium / high
Typical depth
21 m+
Access
boat / shore
If you have heard about diving in Puerto del Carmen, Lanzarote, this is where the island shows a more vertical, more volcanic and, in many places, more demanding side.
A lot of the diving here revolves around the wall: a drop-off that starts at around 15 – 18 metres and goes much deeper. It is a very good area if you are looking for caves, caverns, lava tunnels, wrecks and deeper profiles.
And if you have ever heard of Playa Chica, that is really the hub for some of the best-known and most interesting dives in Puerto del Carmen
Blue Hole
This is one of those dives that almost everyone wants to do at least once.
You descend and quickly see why: the lava tunnel, the change in depth and the light coming in make it feel very special. It is not just about “seeing a hole”. It is about moving through a natural structure that changes the whole dive.
La Catedral (“The Cathedral”)
Here, what really stands out is the space. You enter a huge cavern with a vaulted shape, and the feeling underwater is very different from an open site.
If you like dives with size, rock and wall all around you, this is one that tends to stay with you.
Cueva de las Gambas (“Shrimp Cave”)
This one is for experienced divers who want depth.
It is at around 40 metres and has exactly that atmosphere you look for when you want a more technical, more serious dive with a real cave feel.
It is not a site to try just to “see what it is like”. You go in knowing what you are there for.
Pecios del Quíquere (“Quíquere Wrecks”)
If you enjoy wrecks, this is one of the classics.
There are three sunken wooden fishing boats, with schools of fish, barracudas and that atmosphere wrecks always have once the sea has really taken them over. A very good dive if you like looking at structure and marine life together.
Pecios de Tiñosa (“Tiñosa Wrecks”)
Here, the good thing is the number of wrecks.
In one dive, you can move between several sunken boats at different depths, which makes the route very entertaining.
If you enjoy wreck diving, this area gives you plenty.
Richies Place
This site works really well for the scenery.
Big walls, volcanic rock, arches, caves and white sand: the kind of dive that keeps you looking in every direction because the landscape never stops changing.
Very good if you like feeling that the terrain is a big part of the experience.
Waikiki
Here, the light does a lot.
The white sand reflects so much that it creates a very clean, bright and enjoyable feeling underwater.
It is a dive that people often really like because it looks good straight away and because the marine life is there from shallow depth.
El Ojo (“The Eye”)
The name comes from the hole in the rock wall, but the good part does not stop there.
The whole area has plenty of life and interesting relief, so it is not a dive where you go to see one detail and that is it. I
t is a complete and very enjoyable site.
Veril de Playa Chica (“Playa Chica Wall”)
Probably the real centre of diving in this part of the island.
From here, you get very different dives, with caves, cliffs, lava tubes and plenty of marine life.
It is an area with a lot of variety, and one that quickly shows you why Puerto del Carmen has such a strong name among divers.
Veril de Fariones (“Fariones Wall”)
If you like walls, this is a proper wall.
It is a deep, very vertical underwater cliff, the kind you enjoy both on the way down and on the way back up, doing your safety stop while looking at blue water and rock at the same time.
El Muellito y la Playa (“The Little Pier and the Beach”)
This is a very good area if you want to see lots of Atlantic marine life in one dive.
It does not have the “iconic” side of some other sites, but as a place to spot species and dive with that feeling of abundance, it works very well.
La Pared (“The Wall”)
Here, the name says it all.
You follow a wall with marine flora, orange coral and large groupers, in a dive that people really enjoy if they like watching the underwater landscape and letting the site itself carry the experience.
Los Arcos (“The Arches”)
A very rewarding dive for people who enjoy the scenery.
Sand, volcanic rock and natural formations give the route a lot of personality.
It is one of those sites that may not make as much noise by name, but then ends up being one of the dives you really enjoy underwater.
El Balcón de los Atunes (“Tuna Balcony”)
Here, the attraction is more about the blue and about what might happen.
It is a dive that depends a lot on the conditions and on the chance of meeting migratory pelagic species.
When it works, it is one of those dives that leaves you feeling you were in exactly the right place on exactly the right day.
Diving in Mala
Level
medium / high
Typical dept
21 m+
Access
shore
If you are interested in dives in the north of Lanzarote, Mala has a very strong personality of its own.
Here, the scenery stands out straight away: slopes of white sand, volcanic rock formations dropping into the blue, caves, arches and visibility that often makes everything feel even more impressive.
It is an area with plenty of life, where stingrays and angel sharks are often around, but what really makes it different is the way the underwater landscape mixes with that feeling of a wide, very scenic dive.
It is also worth checking availability, because the sea does not always allow diving here. And that is exactly why, when Mala is good, it is really worth doing.
And between January and February, you have a very good chance of seeing lots of angel sharks and stingrays together, which makes some dives here even more special.
Charco del Palo I
Here you notice straight away that you are in a different kind of area.
You have colourful algae, slopes of white sand, cliffs, caves and those white patches created by the long-spined sea urchin that give the landscape a very distinctive feel.
It is a dive with a lot of underwater landscape and contrast, the kind you want to take slowly because there is always something new to look at.
Charco del Palo II
This is often a very good option when the sea makes other parts of the island harder to dive.
It is not the site you come to for the biggest amount of marine life, but it makes up for that with scenery, space and visibility that often makes everything feel clean and very easy to enjoy.
If you like this more open and more visual kind of diving, this one usually works very well.
El Ascensor (“The Lift”)
This is one of the most distinctive dives in Lanzarote.
Here, the main feature is a lava tube that you move through almost like a natural lift, with skylights and openings that change the whole dive depending on how the sunlight comes in.
It is one of those sites you remember more for the feeling of being inside the terrain than for one specific species..
El Cañón (“The Canyon”)
This is probably one of the dives that best sums up what makes diving in Mala so special.
Big walls, caves, arches, white sand and very good visibility all in one route.
It is a very scenic, very complete dive, and one that leaves you with the feeling that you have dived somewhere with a lot of personality.
La Graciosa and the Chinijo Archipelago
Level
medium / high
Typical depth
21 m+
Access
boat / shore
If you are looking for La Graciosa diving, this is one of the most special areas you can explore.
The Chinijo Archipelago is part of the largest marine reserve in Europe, with around 700 km², and that really shows underwater.
The scenery feels quite different from other parts of Lanzarote: more sense of space, more rock, more algae, more gorgonians, and a style of diving that often feels wilder and more open.
It is also worth checking availability, because the weather does not always allow trips to go out, and many of these dives are usually organised as group outings. But when the conditions are right, this is where you get some of the most powerful dives in Lanzarote.
La Burrera
This is one of those dives that many people remember for years.
What makes it so special is the route: rock mazes, swim-throughs, an algae-covered bottom and an underwater landscape that feels very different from what you find in other parts of the island.
It is the kind of dive where you want to keep looking around all the time.
La Roncadera
Very well known for its amphitheatre shape and for the rocky steps covered in red and yellow gorgonians.
And if you are lucky enough to come across the big school of striped seabream that gives it its name, the dive becomes even better.
It is one of those sites where the underwater landscape and the marine life come together really well.
Veril de las Anclas (“Anchors Wall”)
Located in El Río, between La Graciosa and the north of Lanzarote, this site gives you a strong feeling of open space.
You have wall, sand and that mix of blue water and relief that makes the dive feel wide and visually very clean.
Veril de las Langostas (“Lobster Wall”)
Here the terrain feels sharper, rockier and full of interesting gaps to explore slowly.
As the name suggests, it is a very good place to come across Canary spiny lobsters, and that gives the dive a very different feel.
Las Cañas
If you enjoy sites that feel like a maze, this dive comes in very well.
Swim-throughs, caves, columns, algae-covered arches and schools of fish appearing as you go. Very complete and very enjoyable to dive.
Montaña Amarilla (“Yellow Mountain”)
Here the underwater landscape is closely linked to what you see above the surface.
The yellow rock, formed by magma meeting the sea, gives the whole area a very recognisable look.
It is a dive with a lot of personality, more about the scenery than one single big draw.
El Bajón de las Gerardias (“Gerardia Drop-Off”)
This is already a site for expert divers.
What makes it so special is the huge concentration of gerardias, something really unusual in La Graciosa and very hard to find with that kind of presence elsewhere.
It is one of those dives that on its own makes the trip here worth it.
If you would like to dive these sites…
Here you can see how we organise our trips for certified divers and what you need to come diving with Dawn Dives.
FAQ´s about the best dive sites in Lanzarote
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If you already know which areas or dive sites you are interested in, the next step is to see how we organise our trips for certified divers.