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Shore Day Trip Live Aboard
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Country: Spain Area: Canary Islands
Water Temp: 19 - 24°C (66 - 75°F)
Visibility: 15 - 60m (49 - 197 ft)
Book A Diving Trip OnlineLa Palma is one of the smallest of the Canary islands, also called “isla bonita”. It is famous for its rough volcanic landscape and the green forests, for the clear sky and the biggest telescope of the world in the observatory on Roque de Los Muchachos. With nearly 2500m, this is the highest point of the island and allows you to look over the clouds (if there are) to Tenerife, La Gomera and El Hierro.
Book A Dive Center OnlinePeople come to La Palma because they love the nature, they love to be active in their holidays, and some of them love to dive. If you come to La Palma once, it is very likely that you fall in love with the island and come back again and again and again.
Diving on La Palma means diving in the clear Atlantic, in a fascinating lava landscape, dropping down into the very deep blue at just a few meters from the shore. Because of the very steep profile, most of the diving is shore diving. There are spectacular things to see at any depth: Canyons and bizarre lava rocks in the shallow, covered with sponges and with lots of small fishes around, lava streams leading to the depth, there covered with red gorgonias and black corals – you can’t say which depth is best.
La Palma underwater, Credit
As the water is usually really clear, there are good chances to spot some bigger creatures: Huge sting rays are here all year round, the graceful butterfly rays start to appear in October and stay for the winter, electric rays hide under the sand. Groupers grow to a decent size, barakudas aswell, and the cavernous lava rocks are a perfect home for the smaller beautys like spider crabs, scorpion fishes, octopuses, feather stars and lots more.
Diving is perfect for all experience levels. There are sheltered, shallow places for beginners and training, standard depth dives at 20-30m, along with the deep blue for experienced divers.
There are snorkling courses for the whole family offered, and it is always possible to snorkel inside the bay without a guide.
La Palma has some nice beaches, where you can spend a day with your family. Especially the beach in Los Cancajos is very well protected and sheltered, and even counts with a small natural pool for children.
Children can do their first diving experiences from 8 years on, and dive from10 years on. Bubblemaker, Discover Scuba Diving and the full PADI courses are offered from the minimum age on.
Besides that, families are welcome on most of the other activities on the island. Acropark counts with a parcours specially for children, Whalewatching tours are a real attraction for the little ones – La Palma in the water and on land is good for families.
Fantastic view of the sea, Credit
La Palma is proud of having a big area on the west coast declared as a marine reserve, and the area of Los Cancajos is in the process of becoming a Micro-Reserve, a small protected area to allow the fishes to grow. Several times a year, there are beach-cleanups and projects to control the population of sea-urchins, that is growing too fast.
La Palma is an excellent all-year destination, with temperatures ranging from around 20 degree in Dec/Jan to around 30 in July/August. It can be a little bit rainy from November to February, but if it rains, it is just for one or two days – and usually, weather is always good at least at one side of the island.
Water temperatures reach 24 degrees from August to October and fall to 19 in February/March. In the summer, a 5mm suit is enough, for the winter month a 7mm with hood or a semidry are preferable.
Butterfly Rays (best Oct-Jan), Sting Rays (all year round), Marbled electric rays, very few Turtles, triggerfishes best in November, Moray eels, Barrakudas, scorpion fishes. Some nudibranches, dancing shrimps, cleaner shrimps, reef lobsters and rock lobsters.
Information & Photos kindly provided by La Palma Diving Center
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Most of the dives on La Palma are shore dives. The entry ranges from very easy over the beach with no waves to tricky over rocks with stronger waves. Dive Centers know where it is best to go and usually opt for the easiest entry.
On the east shore, Los Cancajos is the best diving area, with a big variety of possible dives. There is a famous cave in a shallow depth, some fascinating rock formations, and good deep diving as well.
Fishes, Credit
In the south, there is a very famous divesite, Malpique, with an underwater-monument built of 39 stone crosses. Most divers want to see this place at least once in their holidays, and centers try to get there quite frequently whenever the ocean allows it. Alternatively, Las Cabras offers the most fascinating recent lava from the 1971 eruption, and the best visibility of the island.
In the west, shore dives are possible in La Bombilla and Puerto Naos, with lava labyrinths and beautiful drop-offs.
Diver in La Palma, Credit
At all dive sites, it is possible to do brilliant dives for every experience level. There is always a possibility to go deep, and it is always beautiful in the shallow part of the dive. For try-dives and courses, conditions are usually best in Los Cancajos, because there is a protected bay with a reduced water movement.
Diving in La Palma, Credit
Boat diving is not very common at La Palma, as most sites are easily accessible by the shore. Most dive Centers offer some special boat excursions to get inside the marine reserve or to the north-west of the island. It can be a trip with a Zodiac, or a day on the boat with a big, comfortable ship.
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diving community within 24 hours
La Palma is the only of the small Canary islands with an own international airports. Flights come in from Germany, mainland Spain and the UK, and some few from other European Countries. The airport Code is SPC, for Santa Cruz de La Palma – don’t mix it up with Las Palmas (which is Gran Canaria) or Palma de Mallorca.
Airplane, Credit
Sometimes it might be cheaper to go to Tenerife with a cheap airline company and then take the ferry, but usually it is easier and way more comfortable to fly in directly.
Most questions are answered by our
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La Palma is a calm island, with nearly no nightlife, but a very good range of excellent restaurants. In the capital Santa Cruz and the “secret capital” Los Llanos, you find a broad variety and can choose from typical Canary and international cuisine.
Sweets! Credit
Along the coast, there are several places with the typical “kioskos” that offer seafood and drinks at moderate prices.
Once you are on the island, you should get the actual “Disfruta”, a free guide to gastronomy and activities on La Palma.
Once a year, there is a Tapas-Competition with lots of restaurants offering their best creations at a very moderate price.
Most questions are answered by our
diving community within 24 hours
La Palma is a top destination not only for diving, but as well for nearly all other outdoor activities. There are excellent hiking tours, Paragliding, climbing and much more.
Tazacorte harbour, Credit
It is always a good idea to take a rental car, which is available at reasonable prices, to move on the island.
Most questions are answered by our
diving community within 24 hours
There are plans to create a new area for diving in Santa Cruz, with some wrecks and artificial spots designed to discover the history of pirates on La Palma. It should open in summer 2014 – watch out for the latest news.
Canarian Pine, Credit
We just did some amazing dives with the crew from La Palma Diving. As our hotel (La Palma Princess) is in the south, far away from the Dive Center, they did even pick us up and take us diving in Malpique. Conditions were fine, very good visibility, spotted an eagle ray at the drop-off, lots of moray eels, and the crosses - impressing. Would always recommend to dive with them, very friendly and professional - thans to Oli and the other girl!
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