Lanzarote is the eastern Canaries' easy-diving workhorse: inexpensive year-round shore diving on volcanic reefs around Puerto del Carmen's Playa Chica — a blue-lit swim-through, a deep cavern and a cluster of small harbour wrecks in cool 18–24°C Atlantic water — with winter visits from the Critically Endangered angelshark, for which the Canary Islands are the last stronghold, as the one genuinely special draw.
Destination info
Conditions, highlights, and the resident marine life.
Conditions
Water and air temperature across the year.
WaterAirDryShoulderWet
Description
Lanzarote is a volcanic island whose lava reefs, arches and caverns drop straight off the shore into clear, cool subtropical Atlantic water — roughly 18°C in late winter, 23–24°C in early autumn, visibility usually 15–30 m. The hub is Puerto del Carmen, where the small Playa Chica cove serves more than ten named dives, from 3 m training plateaus to the 27 m-plus Cathedral cavern and the Blue Hole swim-through, plus around six small scuttled wrecks off the old-town harbour. Charco del Palo on the quieter east coast offers ladder-entry shore dives over lava fingers and white sand. The signature encounter is the Critically Endangered angelshark: the Canaries are the species' last remaining stronghold, and adults move inshore from roughly November to April, resting on sand in a few metres of water. Beyond that there are no big-animal guarantees — this is comfortable, mass-market training and holiday diving rather than a bucket-list destination. The months marked 'wet' (December–March) are only mildly rainier and remain fully divable; they are in fact the angelshark peak, though Atlantic swell can close exposed shore entries. The Museo Atlántico sculpture park off Playa Blanca is still dived through local centres, but its official museum operation closed in 2020 and a formal reopening was still pending as of January 2024.
Highlights
What makes this dive worth the trip.
The Canary Islands are the last place where the Critically Endangered angelshark (Squatina squatina) is still regularly seen by divers. In 2019 Spain added the species to its Endangered Species List for Canary waters under the highest category ('in danger of extinction'), and the Angel Shark Project — a ZSL, University of Las Palmas and Leibniz Institute collaboration running since 2013 — collects diver sightings from Lanzarote sites via its sightings map.
The waters spanning Fuerteventura, Lanzarote and the Chinijo islets are a designated Important Shark and Ray Area (ISRA): monitoring of 15 areas across Lanzarote and Fuerteventura identified eight potential angelshark nursery areas, with pregnant females recorded in 2019 and 2023 and a mating event documented in 2017.
The Museo Atlántico — roughly 300 Jason deCaires Taylor sculptures on the sand at 12–14 m off Las Coloradas near Playa Blanca, inaugurated in January 2017 — officially closed as a managed museum in 2020. In January 2024 the island government announced its intention to reopen it under a 'blue tourism' model, while Playa Blanca dive centres have continued running guided dives at the sculptures; confirm current access when booking.
Marine life
22 species you’re likely to encounter on a dive here.
Dive sites
6 signature sites at this destination.
Playa Chica
A small sheltered cove beside Puerto del Carmen's old town that works as the island's communal house reef: a sandy training plateau at 3–6 m, a harbour wall with resident seahorses, and a volcanic drop-off feeding more than ten named routes including the Blue Hole and the Cathedral. Entry is a walk-in from the beach, and depth and challenge are whatever you choose. Winter regularly brings angelsharks onto the sand here, and the easy logistics make it the busiest dive site in Lanzarote — expect classes and groups in the water year-round.
3–40 mbeginnerShoreLightVisibility 15–30 m
Blue Hole
Playa Chica's best-known route: a swim-through in the lava wall entered at about 20 m, dropping through to the open reef face with the exit framed in bright blue light. Less experienced divers can view it from above; inside, the tunnel is short but dark, and the seaward side continues down to 40 m, so depth discipline matters more than the relaxed shore entry suggests. Angelsharks often rest on the sand plateau above the hole in winter.
18–40 mintermediateShoreLightVisibility 15–30 m
Cathedral
A large cavern in the volcanic drop-off west of Playa Chica, its arched entrance starting at about 27 m and the wall continuing to 40 m. The vaulted overhang shelters big habituated dusky groupers — locals long knew one resident as 'Felix' — with rays and barracuda along the wall outside. It is a genuinely deep dive on a casual shore site: advanced certification, good buoyancy and gas planning are required, and centres run it as a guided swim along the drop-off.
27–40 madvancedShoreLightVisibility 15–30 m
Old Harbour Wrecks
A cluster of about six small fishing boats lying just off Puerto del Carmen's old-town harbour: the shallowest are the best preserved at around 12–18 m, while the deepest broken hull carries its propeller at about 40 m. Local operators say the boats were scuttled for divers in the 1970s — none are historic wrecks, but together they make a satisfying multi-level boat dive minutes from the harbour, with cardinalfish and scorpionfish in the dark corners and angelsharks and stingrays on the surrounding sand.
12–40 mintermediateDay boatLightVisibility 10–25 m
Museo Atlántico
Roughly 300 pH-neutral concrete figures by Jason deCaires Taylor arranged across the sand at 12–14 m in Las Coloradas bay near Playa Blanca, including The Raft of Lampedusa and the 200-figure Human Gyre. It is an easy, shallow, essentially current-free boat dive about ten minutes from the marina, and the sculptures have picked up a film of life — damselfish, trumpetfish, the odd angelshark or stingray on the sand. Caveat: the official museum operation closed in 2020 and a formal reopening was still being negotiated as of January 2024; Playa Blanca centres have continued running guided dives, so confirm current access when booking.
12–15 mbeginnerDay boatNo currentVisibility 15–25 m
Charco del Palo (Mala)
Ladder-entry shore diving from the lava shelf at the small village of Charco del Palo on Lanzarote's quieter northeast coast. Lava fingers and arches run out over bright white sand, with rocky structure in the first 20 m and sand plains below; black coral grows below 40 m for suitably trained divers. The mixed terrain is the island's best bet for rays — eagle, butterfly, round fantail and torpedo rays all turn up — plus big morays and winter angelsharks. It faces the open Atlantic, so entries depend on swell, and on rough days the site simply doesn't go.
5–40 mintermediateShoreLightVisibility 15–30 m
Where to dive & stay
Local dive centers, resorts, and hotels.
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