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Large bass are common on the reefs and around the wrecks. Picture from: Canary Diving
Gran Canaria is a very popular tourist destination all across northern Europe. It has been one of the top destinations year after year since the dawn of charter industry. It attracts tourists that wants to combine sun and good beach with good food, culture and history. The island offer something for everyone. It offers great diving, great cycle trails, and great golf courses.
Gran Canaria is one of the canary islands. Other canary islands that are very popular among tourist include Lanzarote and Teneriffe. Lanzarote offers some of the most stunning landscapes on earth.
The island offer a great selection of fine dining, museums and theaters.
Getting there
It is very easy to get to Gran Canaria. All the mayor charter companies offer trips to Gran Canaria. Most of the them offer a large selection of different trips. This makes it easy to customize your trip so that you live in a hotel near the dive shop you intend to dive with. It is easy to find cheap hotels as well as luxury hotels. Gran Canaria is not as cheap as some other destinations and if you are looking for a cheap dive vacation I recommend a trip to Hurghada or Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt instead. It is often possible to find last minute trips to Gran Canaria, Teneriffe and Lanzarote.
There are numerous flights leaving for Gran Canaria each day if you prefer to plan every aspect of the trip yourself.
Finding a dive shop
Gran Canaria offers a large selection different dive shops that you can use to get certified or simply go on a dive trip. You usually do not have to book your dive trip until you arrive on Cran Canaria. The dive shops usually have open spots on their dive boats and there are usually available instructors that can help you get certified. If you want to you can book your dive trips from home. You can find a list of good dive centers below. If you want to be 100% certain that you can get certified on your trip we recommend booking your class in advance.
Mogán
- Atlantik Divinggrancanariadiveresort.com
- Blue Explorersblue-explorers.com
- Canary Diving Schoolcanary-diving.com
- Champion Atlanticdelphinus.eu
- Club Amigos del Atlánticodiveacademy-grancanaria.com
- Extra Divers Worldwideextradivers-worldwide.com
- Gran Canaria Diversgrancanariadivers.com
- Scubasur Gran Canariascubasur.net/gran-canaria
- Top Divingtopdiving.net
- Zeus Dive Centerzeusdivecenter.com
Las Palmas
- 7mares Las Canteras7mares.es
- Buceo Canariasbuceocanarias.com
- Lavy sublavysub.com
- Mirafondosmirafondos.com
San Bartolomé de Tirajana
- Diving Center Sun-Subsunsub.com
- Calypso Dive Centercalypsodivecenter.com
- Naúticodivingcenter-nautico.com
Other Dive Centers
- Buceo Pandorabuceopandora.es
Aquatic Wildlife
Moray eels can be hard to see as they like to hide put are very common. Picture from: restresor.nu
The wildlife in that water around Gran Canaria is very rich and gives you the chance to see a wide variety of sealife. Exactly what you will see depends on where you are diving. Gran Canaria offers reef, cave and wreck dives. All of them filled with colorful fish and invertebrates. As an example can be mentioned that if you choose to dive at El Pajar, a popular wreck, you are likely to see large schools of barracudas, angel sharks, common Sting Rays and Butterfly Rays. El Pajar is an easily accessible dive in shallow water. The deepest point is only 18 m below surface.
Another dive site that is very accessible is Angel Wall. Angel wall is a straight drop down to 17 meters. The current is strong here which makes it a suitable place for drift diving. Angel Wall is home to snapper, octopuses and a lot of other sea life.
Other things to do
Gran Canaria offer a lot of other things to do than diving. It offers world class golfing including the famous golf course Real Club de Las Palmas. One of the oldest courses in Spain. The island also offer a number of other courses. For those that don’t like golfing there is cycling, adventure trails, rock climbing, surfing, paddle boarding and a lot of other activities.
Angelsharks are a common sight at EL Pajar.
The island also offers a wide variety of theaters and museums.
The night life is equally good. Gran Canaria offers numerous restaurants, bars, movie theaters and clubs.
You have a large selection of restaurants to choose from if you prefer to just go out, get a bite to eat, and relax. The island offers every thing from simple bistros to fine dining. The small family owner restaurants can often offer an experience that rivals that of the more fancy establishments even if the quality of the food might not be the same. Don’t be afraid to try a variety of restaurants.