Diving In Tenerife

Diving in Tenerife was a lot more different to other Canary Island diving that I had experienced.

I was staying in Los Gigantes and dived with a local English run dive outfit there, who were very friendly and helpful and above all very safety conscious. I felt a lot safer diving with them than anyone else before (or since) abroad!

The water was slightly warmer than previous Canary dives, which was pleasant. The undersea landscape is very similar to Lanzarote - with black sea urchins covering rocks, ready to spike the unweary hand. There was also a good selection of other sea life - trumpet fish, octopus, baby baracuda, parrot fish and the likes.

The way Los Gigantes is situated, all the diving took place from a boat in sheltered coves. The runs out in the boat were also quite interesting, although usually only a few minutes long. One day we spotted a logger head turtle and another a flying fish.

Towards the end of my stay on the return journey we saw a fin from a well known local - Eddie, the hammerhead shark. A shy little creature, he is attracted to the area at certain times of the year to hunt under the fish farm nets for scraps that are dropped. The area is also home to dolphins and whales, but neither were about on my trips.

On later dives, going to about 25 metres, we also saw free swimming octopus, cuttlefish and pipefish. We also visited an area used by some dives operators as a feeding station (but not the people I dived with) and this was obvious by the amount of debris on the floor. But this meant that area and all around it was home to loads of rays - electric, eagle and sting. At one point I was lucky enough to see a 2 metre sting ray swim over to me and fully burry itself in the sand.

Not all dives were with the intention of seeing the sealife. Punta Teno is a lighthouse that can just be seen from Los Gigantes and a good boat ride out there. Here the diving was again about 25 metres, but this time its purpose was to see the lava formations, although that didn't mean that we had been deserted by the large fish, with an Eagle Ray and others about. I was also informed that if you are going to see a shark, then this was the most likely local dive for that experience. Pity, nothing arrived.

Diving in Tenerife was interesting and I'd be keen to go back just for that alone. Do remember on family holidays, if you are planning a trip up Mount Teide that is does count as altitude - follow your training organisation's guidelines about going to altitude / flying.

Tenerife is well worth a trip - especially if, like me, you dive on family holidays rather than going on diving holidays.