Tenerife, which is the largest and most popular of the Canary Islands, is home to many wonderful resorts, and the dive sites can be busy. However, the underwater vistas are absolutely magnificent and there is something for everyone who cares to visit! Let’s take a look at just a few of Tenerife’s best dives.
The Rays (Los Chuchos)
Also known as the Stingray Wreck due to the small wreck that creates a small artificial reef here, this is an exceptional dive site that offers you a chance to visit with a variety of rays, including massive Atlantic Rays, Stingrays, Eagle Rays, and even the occasional Manta Ray. The wreck itself is swarming with fish, including trumpet fish and silver jacks. It offers shelter to moray eels and tap-dancing prawns, plus you will occasionally find a turtle here that begs for food by tapping divers on the head. Maximum depth at The Rays is just twenty-one meters, and conditions are great. It is a wonderful site for anyone who has ever dreamed of swimming with, and even feeding, an elegant assortment of rays. At times, there can be more than twenty of them circling about!
Palm Mar Caves
Nobody knows how long the tunnel inside the main cave here is; and, no one knows where it leads to. Divers have died trying to find out, so it is best to enjoy the ambient areas just inside the mouth of the cave and along the walls here. The site is easily recognized by the sunken cross which was placed here in memory of lost divers, and by the statue of the Madonna and Baby Jesus that is just to the right.
This beautiful site, which is also called Cuevo del Pam Mar, is home to Yellow Leopard Spotted Moray Eels, Painted Moray Eels, and large Atlantic Barracuda, as well as Damsels and other colorful fish. Nudibranchs share the walls with coral, and flounder skim along the sandy bottom. The entrance to the cave is located at thirty meters.
Besides the wonderful wall and mysterious cavern at Palm Mar Caves, there is a fish farm nearby, which attracts dolphins. These friendly mammals often visit with divers, as they make their way to and from the fish farm area.
Condesito Wreck
Octopus and Trumpetfish, as well as tiny boxfish and some damsels occupy the Condesito Wreck, which lies in eighteen meters of water on the sandy bottom. At the top of the wreck, which is located at ten meters, swarms of sardines swirl about, reflecting the sunlight on their silvery sides.
When Condesito went down, she was carrying a load of concrete, which is now home to moray eels. You can see the concrete and the morays in the rear hold, and easily swim through other parts of the wreck, as well. The engine room and boiler are exposed and make an interesting photo background!
Look for stingrays in the sand all along the picturesque gully where Condesito lies, and if you are qualified, explore the deeper areas around the wreck, which are full of black coral. Further out, there is a drop off that leads to sixty meters and beyond. With great visibility and a variety of things to see, this is an excellent dive for all.
Steps
The Steps, which also goes by the name “Bananas”, gets its name from the volcanic reefs and basalt rock formations, and is an excellent place to see dolphins, schooling barracuda, and a massive shoal of mackerel. Once you are on the bottom at eighteen meters, you’ll see hundreds of Grunts, which seem to be gathered here just to greet divers! The dive, which is great even for novices, continues on through a large tunnel and a valley, where you can descend to thirty meters if you like. Zebra Bream and Triggerfish, as well as Trumpetfish and Almaco jacks are ever present, and during the winter months, you may encounter Angel Sharks.
Blowhole
This is an exhilarating dive for experienced divers in search of an adventure! To enter the blowhole, you must take a giant stride into the blowhole, where the water lies about five meters from the jumping off point. Once you descend through the blowhole itself, which is only about three meters across, you will find yourself in a mystical cavern filled with curious prawns and lobsters, as well as octopus. The entire cave system here leads into open water which continues to a depth of twenty-five meters.
Jewel anemones thrive in the arched swimthroughs here, and parrotfish and trumpetfish add color to an already spectacular dive. To exit, you ascend to about six meters and enter yet another cave system where you can enjoy plenty of bottom time in more relaxing conditions. When you are finished, you will find a set of steps that makes exiting just as easy as getting in – though a bit less exciting!
These are just a handful of the wonderful dives that await you on the beautiful island of Tenerife. Local shops and charters can be busy, so plan ahead and you’ll be able to make the most of your trip.