Diving is unlike anything else except, perhaps, going into space, but better. And Spain provides many interesting dive sites. With over 4000km of coastline Spain offers a choice of sites for beginners to the most experienced of divers.

Combining both adventure and sport scuba, a diving holiday in Spain is fun and promotes awareness about nature conservation.

It is possible to dive all year round in Spain, but the warm Mediterranean waters of Southern Spain offer a more comfortable experience, and these areas tend to be more popular with British divers.

The Atlantic coast is less popular for divers due to the less developed tourism in the area but still offers some great dive sites. The waters here are colder and English is less widely spoken. The areas of San Sebastian and La Coruna are the main dive centres on this coast.

The Balearics and Canaries are good dive locations with Tenerife being the jewel of the islands: stingrays , sharks, baracuda and octopuses can be seen as well as some spectacular geological formations. Visibility in all dive sites is good to very good.

Spanish Law states you must be over 16 years of age to engage in scuba diving activities in Spain. Some autonomous regional governments have passed their own laws to relax this limit - but please do check with local dive centers before booking and ensure you have adequate insurance to cover you for this activity.

Best time to dive: Summers are hot, Spring and Autumn mild. The best time for diving is May to September, although the Canaries offer great year-round diving.

Spain has a huge variety of diving sites, here are some of the most popular:

Costa del Sol

Marbella and the surrounding areas of Fuengirola, Torremolinos and Benalmadena are situated in the heart of Spain's Costa del Sol. Dive centres here offer PADI courses and train all divers from entry level up to and including Dive Master. Dives sites include Torreblanca reef near Fuengirola, Nerja and Tarifa.

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Costa Tropical

Salobreña, Motril, Almuñécar, La Herradura, Nerja or Calahonda. Suitable, safe and interesting dive spots are the locations and both courses and fun dives are available. Located close to Granada and Malaga airports, this area is great for holidays where some of the party dives and others don’t as there are so many other water sports and tourist attractions on land, it makes the perfect holiday for all. Almuñecar alone has 9 dive sites, including Punta de la Mona, Marina del Esta, Tres Picos and Cantarrijan. With shore diving, open water and a variety of courses available, it is a great location for a dive holiday.

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Menorca

Menorca offers a range of diving, from Caves and wrecks to beginners and padi courses. Along the beautiful coastline there are many different types of courses, day and course dives on offer.

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