Scuba Diving in Tenerife

Diving in Tenerife is diving on a volcano. The largest of the Canary Islands rises straight out of the Atlantic, and that same volcanic story continues underwater: black basalt walls, arches, caves, and swim-throughs that drop away into deep blue. There's no coral reef here in the tropical sense. Instead you get dramatic rock architecture, sandy plains that hide flatfish and rays, and water clear enough to make the most of it, with visibility usually sitting between 20 and 30 m (65 to 100 ft) and often better in autumn.

The water stays diveable all year. Temperatures range from around 18 °C (64 °F) in late winter to 24 °C (75 °F) in late summer, so a 5 mm wetsuit covers most of the year. Most of the action is concentrated on the sheltered south coast around Las Galletas, Costa del Silencio, and Costa Adeje, where calm conditions and gentle currents make for easy entries and relaxed dives. This is one of the reasons Tenerife is such a popular place to learn: plenty of shallow, forgiving sites sit right alongside deeper walls and wrecks for divers who want more.

You'll dive a bit of everything. Shore dives at calm bays like Radazul. Two wrecks, El Condesito and El Peñón, sunk at beginner and advanced depths respectively. Volcanic reefs like Montaña Amarilla, and turtle-filled walls like Palm Mar. The headline act, though, is the angel shark. Tenerife is one of the last strongholds for this critically endangered species, and from December to March you can often find them resting on the sand in easy recreational depths. Add resident green and loggerhead turtles, several species of ray, and the occasional pilot whale or dolphin passing through the deep channel toward La Gomera, and you've got a destination that punches well above its size.

Top dive sites

The best dive sites in Tenerife cluster along the south and east coasts, most of them a short boat ride or an easy shore entry from the main dive towns. Here are five that show off the island's range, from shallow wrecks to turtle walls.

Palm Mar Wall

Palm Mar is the site most divers want to do first, and it's easy to see why. Drop in and follow the volcanic wall as it steps down the sandy slope, and you're almost guaranteed to meet the resident green turtles that graze and rest here. Conditions are usually calm with good visibility, which makes it a relaxed dive whatever your experience level. Keep an eye on the sand at the base of the wall, where stingrays and bull rays bury themselves, and scan the blue for passing pelagics.

Depth: 8–25 m (26–82 ft) | Level: All Levels

El Condesito

El Condesito is Tenerife's most beginner-friendly wreck. This 44 m cargo ship was carrying cement for the construction of Los Cristianos when it sank off Punta Rasca in 1973, and decades of Atlantic swell have broken it into scattered sections across the sand. Because it sits shallow, between about 6 and 21 m, newly certified divers can explore it comfortably. Schools of bream and sardines hover over the wreckage, damselfish swarm the metal, and moray eels and octopus tuck into the crevices. In winter, angel sharks often rest on the surrounding sand.

Depth: 6–21 m (20–69 ft) | Level: All Levels

El Peñón (Tabaiba Wreck)

El Peñón is the wreck for divers ready to go a little deeper. This 35 m former tugboat spent 49 years working the port of Santa Cruz before being sunk as an artificial reef in 2006. It now lies heeled over on its starboard side, with the deck around 20 m and the deepest point at roughly 32 m, which puts it in Advanced Open Water territory. You reach it with a short swim along a pipeline from shore. Look for barracuda schooling above the hull, moray eels and octopus living inside, and garden eels swaying in the sand nearby.

Depth: 18–32 m (59–105 ft) | Level: Advanced

Montaña Amarilla

Montaña Amarilla, the "yellow mountain," is one of the island's most striking volcanic sites, sitting just off Costa del Silencio near Las Galletas. Underwater, the eroded yellow rock forms columns, arches, and ledges that make for a scenic, easy dive. Depths run from around 6 to 25 m, so it suits beginners and more experienced divers alike. The structure shelters plenty of life, from octopus and moray eels to schooling bream, and angel sharks are regular visitors to the sand at its edges in winter.

Depth: 6–25 m (20–82 ft) | Level: All Levels

Radazul

Radazul, on the island's east coast near El Rosario, is a favorite shore dive and a common spot for first ocean dives. The bay itself is calm and clear, with shallow areas around 5 to 12 m that are perfect for training. Head out further and the terrain steps down through 18 m to a volcanic cliff that drops well past 40 m, giving advanced divers a genuine wall to explore. It's this range, easy shallows and a deep drop just minutes from shore, that makes Radazul so versatile.

Depth: 5–40 m (16–131 ft) | Level: All Levels

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Best time to dive

The best time to dive Tenerife is genuinely any month, which is part of the appeal. This is a year-round destination with a mild climate and warm-ish Atlantic water, so the question is less about whether to go and more about what you want to see.

If you're coming specifically for angel sharks, plan for winter, when they settle onto the sand in easy recreational depths. If you want the warmest water and the best odds of pelagic encounters, aim for late summer. Autumn is the sweet spot for many, combining warm water with the clearest visibility of the year.

Diving conditions

Marine life

Marine life in Tenerife is Atlantic, not tropical, and that's exactly what makes it interesting. Instead of clownfish and coral, you get flatfish and rays on the sand, octopus and moray eels in the volcanic rock, and the occasional big pelagic cruising the deep channels between the islands. Six of the world's seven marine turtle species have been recorded in Canary waters, and green and loggerhead turtles are a regular sight on Tenerife's walls and reefs.

The star, though, lies flat on the sand.

Angel shark (Squatina squatina): December to March, especially around Las Galletas, El Condesito, and Montaña Amarilla. This flattened, ray-like shark is critically endangered across most of its former range, but the Canary Islands remain one of its last strongholds. Tenerife is one of the few places on the planet where a recreational diver can reliably find one, resting camouflaged on the seabed in easy depths through the winter months.

Beyond the angel sharks, the sandy seabeds host a real variety of rays, including common stingrays, round stingrays, butterfly rays, and eagle rays, with autumn a particularly good time for eagle ray encounters. On the reefs and walls you'll find barracuda, trumpetfish, ornate wrasse, parrotfish, and big schools of bream, plus octopus, cuttlefish, and moray eels in every crack. The deep water between Tenerife and La Gomera holds a resident population of short-finned pilot whales alongside bottlenose dolphins, and while sightings on a dive are a matter of luck, they're a reminder of how much life these channels support.

Tenerife's angel shark population is a conservation priority, the focus of dedicated research and protection through the Angel Shark Project in the Canary Islands, and responsible operators keep a respectful distance and avoid disturbing resting animals. Dive gently, stay off the sand, and you help keep these encounters possible.

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Practical information

Dive prices

• Fun dives: around €40–60 per single dive; two-tank boat dives typically €80–110
• Equipment rental: around €10–15 per day
• Dive insurance: around €6 per day (a legal requirement to dive in the Canaries)

Getting there

Tenerife has two airports: Tenerife South (TFS), which is closest to the main dive towns of Las Galletas, Costa del Silencio, and Costa Adeje, and Tenerife North (TFN), better for the capital, Santa Cruz. Most divers base themselves in the south, where the airport, dive centers, and best sites are all within a short drive. Many sites are shore dives or a 10–20 minute boat ride, so you rarely spend long getting wet. A rental car is handy for reaching quieter east-coast sites like Radazul.