Playa Chica

Playa Chica is a shore dive at Puerto del Carmen on Lanzarote, and the most popular dive site on the island. A wide range of dives start from the same beach, including the Harbour Wall, Blue Hole, Little Wreck, Orange Coral, Cathedral, House Reef and El Poril. Maximum depth is up to 40 m.

The shallow part of the site, with the neighbouring El Muellito, runs from 1 to 9 m and is entered from the shore. It suits snorkelling, introductory dives, beginner courses and night dives, and it is a comfortable place for a safety stop after a deeper dive on the reef. Schools of salemas and pejeverdes swim near the rocks, small black damselfish defend their territory, and spider crabs, starfish, sea urchins and brittle stars hide among the rocks.

The deeper reef is for experienced divers. Cueva de las Gambas lies at about 40 m on the Playa Chica reef, a cave full of narwhal shrimp on the walls and ceiling, where groupers hunt the shrimp in the light of divers' torches. Orange Coral, a dive on the reef at 22 to 40 m, ends over sand with garden eels and seahorses.