Question Stuck and running out of time - scuba diving 6 hours from the UK

[Edward3c]

Hello all. Currently a little stuck as I am trying to organise a quick 7-12 days away with my partner in September. We are based in the UK.
Ideally I would like to have a sub 6 hour flight which doesnt cost and arm and leg (or the same as a flight to South Africa or Mexico) and have seen that the only real options are:
Cape Verde (Sal and Boa Vista)
Egypt (Hurghada)
Sao Tome and Princepe

Anything else I can consider?

Pros and cons are:
current Egypt flights are a fortune but accom and diving (+-$30 per day per diver) is cheap, however I dont want to dive the Red Sea again this year,
Sao Tome flights are INSANE but they only get 12500 tourists per year so its literally the perfect place to visit! (accom cheap and diving is also cheap at +-$35 a day per diver)
Cape Verde - Sal is loaded with touristy tourists and Bao vista is another flight ($++) and accom is cheap so is Scuba ($35 a day per diver)

We have been invited to an amazing liveaboard in the Red Sea for approx $1450 per person for 7 days + flights and its the flight price which makes this unattractive. Any other amazing liveaboards we can consider within 6-7 hours of the uk?

So again -

Anything else I can add to the list?
Any feedback on diving Sao Tome or Cape Verde?

Although it’s a bit more than 6hr, you shouldn’t discount Thailand. I paid £650 to get to Dubai earlier this year, for an extra £200 I could have got to Bangkok. Once in Thailand, internal travel is cheap.

Red Sea liveaboards, there have been too meany fires/sinkings for me to even consider a RS liveaboard.

 

[boqurant]

Have you dived it? Any insights?

Nope, but it's on my shortlist if I find myself back in UK again. Plenty of info on this forum e.g.

Trip Report Thread 'El Hierro (Canary Islands)'

Mar 11, 2023

In the Atlantic waters around the southern tip of El Hierro we dive in the protected marine area "Mar Las Calmas". Here we meet many of the typical sea creatures in an underwater world shaped by lava. We find an absolute highlight at the dive site El Bajon. A group of large perch and moray eels have settled around this open-water volcano. At the beginning, a devil ray stops by for a moment. In the harbor of La Restinga we do another night dive - here we meet all sorts of bizarre creatures in the shallow harbor basin.


El Hierro is the westernmost and perhaps the...

• m_BK
• Replies: 1
• Forum: Western Europe

B

Thread 'Trip to the Canary Islands - Island suggestions'

Aug 20, 2024

I am wanting to go to the Canary Islands and looking for some advice. I’m a beginner diver, so I’m hoping to find islands with clear, warm waters, easy dive sites, and plenty of marine life—especially places where I can see turtles, rays, and tropical fish. I’m not really interested in wreck diving, so I’m looking for the best overall diving experiences that focus more on underwater landscapes, marine life, and how suitable they are for beginners.

I’m also into hiking and exploring nature. I’d love to visit islands with a mix of landscapes like mountains, cliffs, springs, forests, and...

• BeginnerScubaDiver
• Replies: 2
• Forum: General Europe

Thread 'Canary Islands - How long to spend in El Hierro?'

Jun 10, 2025

Was thinking of planning a trip to El Hierro and to put it mildly, it is a hassle to get there. It takes a flight > ferry/second flight> car ride to get to the southern most tip of the island where the dive shops are. All in, it would take about 12 hours of travelling, easily taking 2 days out of an entire trip. The local area is also small, with steep climbs out, so its best to get as much diving in as possible.

So that begs the question, how many days of diving should I do to cover most of the good sites while still leaving time to explore other areas on the island?
I have about 10...

• LeggoDiveyDivey
• canary islands el hierro
• Replies: 2
• Forum: General Europe

 

[sinidive]

So relatively warm water destinations near UK:

Canaries
- Cheap flights
- Relative easy diving
- Tenerife mostly shore and protected
- El Hierro from Rib, more exposed
- Some parts of the islands suffer from overtourism
- Worse wrecks than Malta or Cyprus

Malta
- Wrecks
- Mediterranean has much less wild life than Canaries

Cyprus
- Zenobia and some smaller wrecks

Other med destinations
- Check for flights and prices
- Generally less to see than Canaries, but shorter distance

 

[Mobulai]

Have you dived it? Any insights?

I did dive in Tenerife and Lanzerotte;
Lanzerotter has almost only the Museo Atlantico which is a very easy dive, it’s Surreal tbh but worth it (do it once in your life)
Tenerife has more aquatic life, it’s a bit colder (more open Atlantic), and some dives can be challenging
I didn’t do any other islands yet

As a redsea native, I’d always go, but I don’t recommend LoBs (especially if planning in a hurry) as you have to really research the quality of safety aspects of the operator
Dahab and Marsaa Alam/Shagara are great options for shore diving, unlike Hurghada that needs a boat for good quality dive sites

Greece has some cool rib/shore diving as well, I enjoyed it a lot in 2023

Malta (Gozo) is up there on my list along with Thailand (KohTah)

 

[Searcaigh]

Cyprus

 

[Saffadiver]

So relatively warm water destinations near UK:

Canaries
- Cheap flights
- Relative easy diving
- Tenerife mostly shore and protected
- El Hierro from Rib, more exposed
- Some parts of the islands suffer from overtourism
- Worse wrecks than Malta or Cyprus

Malta
- Wrecks
- Mediterranean has much less wild life than Canaries

Cyprus
- Zenobia and some smaller wrecks

Other med destinations
- Check for flights and prices
- Generally less to see than Canaries, but shorter distance

Thanks for this. Will look into it.

Tenerife, would you recommend the shore dives etc? (i hate overtourism'esq places so its not somethign I have looked at.

Also cost wise, do you know?

 

[sinidive]

For Canaries you can combine El Hierro and Tenerife into one trip (flights to El Hierro run from the north airport of Tenerife and are quite cheap), or there is a ferry from the SW-corner of Tenerife to El Hierro.

If you don't like touristy stuff perhaps avoid the main tourist area (Los Christianos / Playa de las Americas).

Diving price in most of Southern Europe seems to be 20-50eur/dive. Canaries is typically 300-400eur/10 dives. Malta has some cheaper and some more expensive operators.

 

[Mobulai]

Thanks for this. Will look into it.

Tenerife, would you recommend the shore dives etc? (i hate overtourism'esq places so its not somethign I have looked at.

Also cost wise, do you know?

Tenerife overtourism is mainly southwestern side (Golf d Sur, Playa d Americas to Playa d Duque, Adeje); but it’s mostly beach goers not divers; most of the dive shops are there too (as they leave with ribs from LosCristianos port; diving elsewhere in Tenerife (North or east) is very challenging as the weather conditions can change quickly and the dives are more “technical” like LaRapedura)

So I’d stay on the west (vertIcal) edge of the island (north of Adeje), or more inland (like Arona itself) and “commute” to dive shops (they can arrange pickups drops)

Last time I went there I dove with Flowstate divers, great operation, and we went diving at an abandoned Banana Port close to Marazul; it was awesome but very challenging (high surge, we dove in sidemount; but it’s actually a bit easier in backmount)
And seems they moved from the guided dives biz to focus on teaching

Prices are in the 50-70€range per day (2 dives) around there

 

[d^2b]

I have been meaning to visit the Azores (from the other side of the Atlantic). Although you'd still want a decent wet suit, September should be on the warmer end of things (23C?). It might be worth more investigation.

 

[Mobulai]

I have been meaning to visit the Azores (from the other side of the Atlantic). Although you'd still want a decent wet suit, September should be on the warmer end of things (23C?). It might be worth more investigation.

True true; as much as it’s a personal preference/tolerance I go with my 3mm suit for 90m dive there (this is my personal limit for ~23C)
But thatsthe temp range midday in the Canaries (maybe 16-19C at 9am), maybe the Azores are a bit colder