Canary Islands (Lanzarote) Ideas and/or Recommendations

[ncJensen]

Almost half a year later, but i am taking my chances.

I am going to Lanzarote on January for 8 days and i would like to dive at least half of them.
There are so many dive centers but i would like to go to one that is trully good.
Any recommendations from the ones who have been there?

(Also some dive spots recommendation would be highly appreciated )

We’re here in Lanzarote right now. We’ve been diving since Wednesday. The weather (26-7) and water (24) have been great. Due to the prevailing winds, the diving has been on the south end of the island. We’ve been diving off Playas Chicas — nice walls and plenty of interesting marine life. We’re diving with Pro Dive Lanzarote (Salvatore), and he’s been great. He’s a small group specialist, so it’s been 1-4 divers, that’s all. Most of the groups a 2-3 times that size. Glad to answer any other questions that you might have!

 

[chaspope]

I am looking for a good scuba center in Lanzarote, Puerto del Carmen, next week to do 5-6 dives, any recommendations? What are the good sites to dive - looking for marine life, not statues. My wife does not scuba -so is there a good beach for just snorkelling ? I there any point to rent a car and drive around to look for other beaches

 

[Christozs]

Ah perfect. I was staying in Puerto del Carmen (near Pocadillos) and diving with a center there as well. Aquanautic Club Lanzarote. It's german led, but they have a team of 2 germans and one spanish. All speak English. No Danish I suppose but that shouldn't be an issue. It's a great dive center. I was there in may and returned in october. They'll take you to the spots I mentioned. In october they had a weekly trip to Playa Blanca and once a week a boat dive from Playa Chica. The local diving is Playa Chica from shore. They have a nice center and are really knowledgable about gear as well if you happen to have an issue. They can also accomodate SM if that's what you dive. Feel free to dm for more details. And if you dive with them, say hi from Celine
The museum is not the best dive. The area (Playa Blanca) is super nice though.

It's good the don't speak Danish as i am originally Greek Did you rent the gear from there? If so, how was their condition?
What suit did you dive with in October?

We’re here in Lanzarote right now. We’ve been diving since Wednesday. The weather (26-7) and water (24) have been great. Due to the prevailing winds, the diving has been on the south end of the island. We’ve been diving off Playas Chicas — nice walls and plenty of interesting marine life. We’re diving with Pro Dive Lanzarote (Salvatore), and he’s been great. He’s a small group specialist, so it’s been 1-4 divers, that’s all. Most of the groups a 2-3 times that size. Glad to answer any other questions that you might have!

I guess the same questions for you too
Did you rent the gear from there? If so, how was their condition?
What suit did you dive with in October?
It's a big advantage the small group! Thanks for sharing this detail.
Did you do the museum? Do you agree with the rest that it's just ok for once? It sounds like it's not really worth the extra money

 

[blueskies_up_ahead]

@Christozs : This time around I didn't need to rent, but in may I rented a reg. No problem. But all their gear is in perfect condition. They service it themselves. If you have any issue with yours, they help you fix it. They also sell some gear. With anything, gear or dives, I trust them 100%. I also did a course there that was great.
In may I wore a 7mm with an undersuit or hooded vest and was really cold. So in october I took my drysuit, which was fine in the water but hot on the surface as this year was exceptionally warm. But in january you will definitely be better off in a drysuit if you have one.

@chaspope: read a little bit back in this thread. I have posted a lot of recommendations that answer your question. The dive shop I recommended is in PDC. Playa Chica is great for snorkeling as well.

 

[ncJensen]

It's good the don't speak Danish as i am originally Greek Did you rent the gear from there? If so, how was their condition?
What suit did you dive with in October?



I guess the same questions for you too
Did you rent the gear from there? If so, how was their condition?
What suit did you dive with in October?
It's a big advantage the small group! Thanks for sharing this detail.
Did you do the museum? Do you agree with the rest that it's just ok for once? It sounds like it's not really worth the extra money

Yes, we rented all the gear. It was all Cressi and good condition. Everyone was diving with 7mm wetsuits. We didn't use the hoods, and it was quite comfortable. We didn't do the museum dive. The only time that we went down to Playa Blanca was as tourists, not divers. The small group size thing is a big deal. All of the dives were very efficient -- no waiting for a big group to get ready.

 

[ncJensen]

I am looking for a good scuba center in Lanzarote, Puerto del Carmen, next week to do 5-6 dives, any recommendations? What are the good sites to dive - looking for marine life, not statues. My wife does not scuba -so is there a good beach for just snorkelling ? I there any point to rent a car and drive around to look for other beaches

Sorry, if this isn't in time, but the Playa Chicas area is great for your purpose. I'd recommend Pro Dive (out of Costa Teguise). Salvatore's great!

 

[chaspope]

Yes thanks all! This is the 'review after' our visit to Lanzarote, Puerto del Carmen. We went each day to Playa Chica and did scuba and snorkeling there - the conditions are perfect both ways. There is a nice beach to in out scubadiving - no dodgy rocky bottom to worry about and no need for water shoes. There is also a rocky bottom area on the other side where it is 4-5 m deep with plenty of colourful fish to see snorkeling. The water is crystal clear and November temperature was around 24C. One thing to watch snorkeling would be the boats and in particular the lads that manage and drag the jetskis. I was under for less than a minute looking at an octopus at about 6m and as I went up for air I heard and saw the propeller tearing the water above me, it came out of nowhere at quite high speed.
Scuba-wise I went with Safari Diving - located on the beach itself. To start with this was a bonus - you did not have to be driven from / to places - after diving you could lie down and do your tan straight away. Other dive shops also did their business on this beach however their customers had to gear up on the parking - which looked not as comfortable. I was able to combine beach and scuba without having to travel which was great.
The scuba dives offered were quite nice, clear water, good newish rental gear, competent guides: Debora, Macei, Yanick, Emiliano, Carlos take good care of you! The isn't much fish to see, other than the 2 local big groupers that I had not seen before. The famous angel sharks you will see in all leaflets are similar to the turtles in Zakintos - they never come when you are there I did maybe 6 dives and did not see any. The Cathedral was interesting - a big cavern at about 30m, also the harbour wrecks were ok, with clouds of juvenile barakudas around. Plenty of sandy bottoms on the way with not much to see, having said that I would do it again if I am there.

 

[Christozs]

We’re here in Lanzarote right now. We’ve been diving since Wednesday. The weather (26-7) and water (24) have been great. Due to the prevailing winds, the diving has been on the south end of the island. We’ve been diving off Playas Chicas — nice walls and plenty of interesting marine life. We’re diving with Pro Dive Lanzarote (Salvatore), and he’s been great. He’s a small group specialist, so it’s been 1-4 divers, that’s all. Most of the groups a 2-3 times that size. Glad to answer any other questions that you might have!

Just did my last dive with Salva.

The guy is great, super friendly and knowledgeable. He can talk about gear, dive sites and diving stories for hours! Exactly my type of guy!

He was super flexible with time, the groups were small. We were usually 4 and once we were 6.

The rental gear was in great condition, although we didn't use any as we had our own.

I had 100 dives but my gf had only 5 so she was a bit nervous. Salva's way calmed her down from the start and she enjoyed all 5 dives we did. The water was around 21 C and we chose to do single dives.

We did the blue hole (first and last dive cause we liked it), flamingo, cathedral and the canyon dive sites.

We saw huge groupers, octapus, cuttlefish, Barracudas, angel sharks and a giant flat fish which was probably bigger than me

i definitely recommend Pro Dive and Lanzarote in general! Thank you all for your recommendations!