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The Canary Islands is a Spanish territory lying 100km off the coast of northern Africa. There are seven volcanic islands in the archipelago, each with its own characteristics which reflect a different culture to that of mainland Spain.

The underwater topography is an interesting mix of seascapes, caves, caverns, pinnacles and drop-offs. Although situated in the Atlantic, the islands sit on a branch of the Gulf Stream and accommodate both warm-water and temperate marine species. In fact the islands host 350 types of fish, some of which are endemic to the area.

LANZAROTE

The most easterly of the islands and also known as 'the island of the thousand volcanoes', Lanzarote has a rugged landscape thanks to volcanic explosions during the 18th century. Most of the tourism on the island is concentrated along the south coast, at the beach resorts of Playa Blanca, Puerto del Carmen and Costa Teguise.

Puerto del Carmen is a very popular resort and Safari Diving is conveniently situated on the Fariones beach. Both boat and shore diving are offered and the house reef is literally a few seconds' walk away from the centre. As you enter the water, you are immediately surrounded by schools of fish. The sandy bottom slopes down gradually in this area, and you can also find a small wreck to explore. Just a short walk away is the Blue Hole. En route to this dive site, you find small schools of barracuda and a huge eel garden. To access the cave you pass a swim-through guarded jealously by a resident grouper. The cave walls are smothered with beautiful tubastrea and anemones.

Further north is Costa Teguise, the home of Calipso Diving. The dive centre is based in the centre of town and courses are run for beginners on local sites. Experienced divers are transferred to either Puerto del Carmen or Mala in the north of the island where the lava flows are found.

TOP DIVES

LAVA CAVES, MALA

The lava caves can only be dived when weather conditions are good, as the dive site is exposed to the strong winds off the Atlantic. The dive spans from 5m down to 60m and an array of marine life can be found, from shrimps and scorpionfish to electric rays and angel sharks.

THE CATHEDRAL, Puerto del Carmen

This dive begins with a gentle descent along the reef until you reach the drop-off that takes you to the Cathedral at 30m. This is a huge cave, decorated with finger coral and glassfish. The uppermost walls are festooned with soft corals and fauna.

DIVE CENTRES

Safari Diving
00 34 928 511992
http://www.safaridiving.com

Manta Diving, Lanzarote
00 34 928 516815
http://www.manta-diving-lanzarote.com

Cala Blanca Dive Centre
00 34 928 519040
http://www.calablancasub.com

Calipso Diving, Lanzarote
01245 477707
http://www.calipso-diving.com

MA Diving, Lanzarote
00 34 928 516 915
http://www.madiving.com

Canary Island Divers
00 34 928 515467
http://www.canaryislanddivers.com

FUERTEVENTURA

Known locally as 'la isla tranquila' (the calm island), Fuerteventura is geologically the oldest island of the archipelago, and has the longest coastline, at 340km. Twenty two per cent of the island is comprised of beaches, and although tourism is the main source of income, you can still walk for miles along the sandy dunes without seeing another soul. Rain is scarce, so the landscape is fairly barren, interspersed with the occasional goat - there are 75,000 of them on the island! Lack of rain is, of course, good for tourism and it certainly doesn't lack sunshine, with 2,800 hours of it each year. Fuerteventura is most famous for its surfing - in fact the world championships are held here, but the diving is getting higher on the agenda.

Diving can be found all around the island at Corralejo, Caleta de Fuste and Puerto de la Cruz. Our reporter dived with Deep Blue Diving, which is ideally situated at the yacht harbour in Caleta de Fuste. Only a short drive away from the airport, this resort is the most convenient on the island. Deep Blue offers instruction in PADI and CMAS and the centre staff are extremely friendly, which probably accounts for the amount of return custom that they enjoy.

The diving is spectacular - amazing rock formations with large walls and arches, plus a wide range of stingrays, eagle rays, torpedo rays, octopus, barracuda, jacks, tuna and, in particular, moray eels. If you visit during the winter months, you are practically guaranteed to see several angel sharks on each dive! It's not completely unheard of to be buzzed by a hammerhead shark or manta ray, and whale sharks have even been spotted - although encounters such as these are rare.

As Fuerteventura is on the edge of the continental shelf, anything can happen, so keep an eye out into the blue. The dive centre owns several boats and most of the dive sites are within a ten-minute radius. Both the resort and the dive centre are very family orientated, so take the kids along too.

Corralejo, to the north, is favoured by the surfing community because of its long flat beaches and plenty of breeze. This is a larger resort, and has plenty of shops and restaurants to choose from. Dive Centre Corralejo is very central, and runs daily trips to the main sites around Isla de Lobos (Island of Wolves), departing at 8.30am and returning at 1.30pm. This trip includes two dives and transfers from your hotel.

TOP DIVES

El Muelito, Caleta de Fuste

This recently discovered dive site starts on the reef top at 7m, but you can drop over the edge down to 40m. You never know what to expect at this site, anything can come out of the blue. At certain times of year there are large schools of sardines and all the predatory action that they attract, making this a 'mini-sardine-run'.

El Portal, Caleta de Fuste

Dramatic walls and arches drop from 12m down to 35m at this site. There is an arch at 33m, outside of which schools of huge barracuda hang in the blue. Urchins have decorated all the surrounding rocks and an abundance of morays peer out from their homes. Even whale sharks have been seen here.

READER'S VERDICT
LIAM HOGG, EXPERIENCED DIVER

'I've been returning to Caleta de Fustes and Deep Blue dive centre twice a year for five years and I never get bored. The diving is fantastic, with incredible topography and an amazing amount of marine life. The resort and dive centre are great for families, and both of my daughters have now qualified there. I book my flights directly with the airline and Deep Blue arranges my accommodation and transfers. My favourite dive is El Muelito because it's sardine heaven! The sardines get pushed up against a wall that drops to 35m and the predators - barracuda and amberjacks - all come in to feed.'

DIVE CENTRES

Deep Blue Diving
00 34 606 275468
http://www.deep-blue-diving.com

Dive Center Corralejo SL
00 34 928 535906
http://www.divecentercorralejo.com

U-Dive, Fuerteventura
00 34 629 105191
http://www.u-divefuerteventura.com

Punta Amanay
00 34 928 535357
http://www.punta-amanay.com

GRAN CANARIA

Your first impression of the Gran Canaria coastline will be that it is dramatic but bleak. The coast road winds around steep cliffs that plunge straight down into the Atlantic, occasionally giving way to the valleys where villages have sprung up over the years. Typical of these is Puerto Mogan, a collection of holiday homes, hotels and residences that seems more personal than the uber-resorts tacked onto the cliffs nearby. This easy-going town with its attractive harbour front is home to Atlantik Divers, an agreeable dive centre based in Hotel Club de Mar and run by Daniel Rodriguez, an enthusiastic advocate of Canarian diving.

Puerto Mogan has a house wreck, a purpose sunk fishing vessel which attracts wildlife and provides scope for exploration (it's just big enough to be worth venturing inside). It sits beyond the harbour wall, so you only have a five-minute ride in the RIB and you're on an interesting wreck. As a bonus, the wreck is visited by a tourist submarine that is based in the port (it's even yellow!). It's a great opportunity for non-diving members of your family to see what you get up to underwater.

This part of Gran Canaria has a paucity of quality reef dives, to the extent that concrete structures have been placed on a sandy sea bed to attract fish. The site in question is a 50-minute RIB ride from Puerto Mogan, but it's worth it because the school of bastard grunts is absolutely huge. If you get fed up chasing the fish school into different shapes, it's definitely worth looking around in the sand, as this area is also home to angel sharks. Elsewhere, the wreck of an old hydrofoil has been populated by more grunts and a family of Atlantic stingrays.

Although the diving here is worth investigating, it's not really worth more than three or four days. To see the hidden side of the Canaries, take a journey up into the mountains, where those barren rocks give way to pine forests and fields of cacti. The villages here are pleasingly traditional - take the opportunity to order a plate of local braised rabbit with that Canarian speciality, new potatoes in a rich paprika sauce.

TOP DIVES

RAY BANK, PASITO BLANCO

A series of concrete structures sunk by the local university provide an artificial reef offshore from Pasito Blanco. Rays, barracuda and lizardfish are common here, but the real attraction is a huge school of grunts. Look carefully along the white sand - this bank is also home to angel sharks.

DIVE CENTRES

Atlantik Diving, Hotel Club de Mar
00 34 689 352049
http://www.clubdemar.com

Canary diving Adventure
0034 928 565428
http://www.canary-diving.com

Davy Jones Diving
00 34 699 721584
http://www.davyjonesdiving.com

LA PALMA

San Miguel de la Palma is the most northwesterly island in the archipelago, lying 85km from Tenerife. During high season, there are direct flights from the UK, otherwise you can get a connecting flight from the airport in northern Tenerife. Dubbed 'La Isla Bonita' (Pretty Island), La Palma certainly lives up to its name, with lush green vegetation and narrow, winding streets. The island has been relatively untouched by divers, and the water is a fabulous blue contrasting with the blackness of lava arches and caves. In the south at Playa Nueva, the diving is easily accessible and the area has been colonised by parrotfish, bandtail chromis, dusky grouper and amberjack.

La Palma is a unique destination of volcanic origin, dominated by the volcanic crater of Caldera de Taburiente within the national park. The island offers an impressive array of canyons, arches, caves and tunnels. The sub-tropical waters are inhabited by a variety of marine life including moray eels, trumpetfish, rays, groupers and barracuda.

There are dive schools on both sides of the island and in the south. At La Palma Diving Centre in Cancajos, the dive centre looks over the bay and it's a short walk with your kit to enter the water. There was plenty to see from eel gardens, grouper, arrow crabs and beautiful anemones to morays in cleaning stations.

TOP DIVE

MALPIQUE

This is another shore dive in the south of the island. At 40m there is an arch and a pinnacle covered with black corals. In the shallow water there is an area with 40 crosses that looks like an underwater graveyard. This was actually made as a monument to the monks who were killed during the Middle Ages. There is also the possibility to see rays and other big fish here, but currents can be strong so it's not a site for novices.

DIVE CENTRES

La Palma Diving
00 34 922 181393
http://www.la-palma-diving.com

Buceo Sub La Palma
00 34 922 181113
http://www.buceos-sub.com

LA GOMERA

La Gomera, known as Isla Redonda (Round Island) is only a short hop from Tenerife, but has a totally different pace of life. The island tends to be little more than a day trip for most visitors. If they stayed around longer, they would find that the island has considerable potential for walkers and divers alike.

La Gomera is used to independent travellers and there is plenty of accommodation to be found. There are dive schools in all three major towns, Playa Santiago, San Sebastian and Valle Gran Rey. The diving is mainly by boat and the nearest chamber is in Tenerife. The southern coast has hardly any currents, and so is suitable for all levels of diving skill. Playa Santiago is a typical fishing village in the south and is the home of Gomera Dive Resort. The dive centre is based at the Hotel Jardín Tecina, integrated into a beautiful botanical garden. An elevator descends through the cliff to the Club Laurel, which is part of the hotel and the dive centre.

TOP DIVE

Roque de Herrero, PLAYA SANTIAGO

At this site the main attractions are the incredible rock formations between 22 and 25m. On top of the reef at 14m you can find large trumpetfish, stingrays and tiger morays. In the shallows there are lots of canary lobsters and anemones.

DIVE CENTRES

Gomera Dive Resort
00 34 922 895902
http://www.gomera-dive-resort.com

Fisch & Co
00 34 922 805688
http://www.fischco.de

TENERIFE

Tenerife is the home of Spain's highest point, in the shape of the dormant volcano Mount Teide, which rises to 3,718m. It also has 560k of some of the most dramatic coastline in the Canaries. Fertile banana plantations contrast with the barren landscape at the bottom of the volcano, where the original Planet of the Apes film starring Charlton Heston was shot.

Beneath the waves, Tenerife offers plenty of resident marine animal and plant life and includes among its regular visitors dolphins, pilot whales and sperm whales.

At Playa Paraiso on Tenerife's southwest coast, Barakuda Diving Centre offers diving at any one of 12 regular dives sites, where you can expect to see a variety of marine life - everything from stingrays to nudibranchs.

The dive on '5-Star Reef' starts with a jump entry from a rocky pinnacle which quickly leads to a gentle descent over rock and sea urchins before dropping into the 'aquarium' at 24m. Dive guides use 'chum' to attract fish on this dive. As soon as the chum bag is emptied of its contents, you will be caught up in a chaotic anarchy as eagle rays, grunts and trumpetfish push for position. Away from the crowds, eagle rays criss-cross in every direction and Atlantic rays - through hunger or curiosity - might follow you around for a while. For macro enthusiasts, rocky outcrop and overhangs are home to anemones and cleaner shrimps, and you will also see cuttlefish, octopus and grouper. At the end of the dive, in the shallows of the beach, inquisitive barracuda occasionally make an appearance. On the western coast of the island, Los Gigantes is another popular diving area. The Los Gigantes Diving Centre, operates diving from either Zodiac or quaint old fishing boat and offers instruction in both BSAC and PADI at any one of the centre's 18 regular dive sites. Both shore and night dives can be arranged.

Considered to be one of Tenerife's best dive sites, Los Chucos starts off with a tranquil descent. A few minutes' gentle finning carries you across the rocks and out onto open sand at about 22m. Here the marine life gathers, waiting for the dive guides to empty containers of chum. You could do with an extra pair of eyes on this dive, for what starts off serenely, quickly turns into a lawless underwater banquet! Eagle rays, Atlantic rays, barracuda, octopus, trumpetfish and numerous other hungry fish steal in and just as quickly steal out again. It is so exhausting keeping up with the confusion, you will (almost) be relieved when the food runs out!

If you fancy taking on a night dive with Los Gigantes, Octopus Cove is an excellent option. A short boat trip from the harbour will take you to the foot of the magnificent 150m-high Los Gigantes volcanic cliffs, where you anchor up before rolling over the side into the inky waters. This is a calm, shallow dive with a maximum depth of 15m, and is jam-packed with life. Following your descent, dive guides lead you along the cliffs to explore nooks and crannies where you will see shrimp and anemones, sea cucumbers, urchins of various colour and tiny little crabs that seek shelter among their spines. Octopus, cuttlefish, barracuda and Atlantic rays can also be viewed curled up under rocky overhangs. The SeaDive centre on Tenerife's northeastern coast at Radazul offers RIB diving to any one of nine regular dive sites. 'La Pared' (The Wall) is a short RIB trip out of the harbour and along the coast, where you anchor up onto a rocky plateau at around 9m. While the sea bed is predominantly sand, there are small rocky outcrops that are full of life.

Anemones, shrimps, sponges and small fish thrive in these little communities that are dotted around all over the place. A drift across the sand will take you to another outcrop where grouper, Atlantic ray, glass-eye and trumpetfish are as interested in you as you are them. Those whose dive profile allows them to 40m will get the chance to see one of the resident moray eels and possibly the chance to look at an Atlantic ray before heading back to the shot.

On the island's northern coast at Puerto de la Cruz, Ecosub dive centre operates a single RIB and visits ten regular dive sites all within ten minutes of the boat's moorings. If you have any interest in underwater volcanic forms, the dive at La Catedral is an absolute must. A shot-line descent to the rocky plateau at 12m leads you across gentle undulations of volcanic pinnacles and stacks and the occasional swim over the top of one of the chimneys will give you a real sense of being suspended above thousands of feet of deep blue water. Away from the rock, sandy patches are home to crabs, stingrays and flounder, and if you take time to scrutinise the cracks and crevices you may be rewarded with glimpses of starfish, anemones and arrow crabs.

READER'S VERDICT
David Oldale
Underwater photographer

'For me, diving Tenerife is all about discovery. The wrecks here are spectacular and the marine life so abundant that I have visited the island to dive at least four times a year for the past five years! During the winter months I photograph angel sharks, while in the summer months I can shoot anything from giant manta rays, whales and dolphin to the numerous seahorses found at Los Gigantes. Recently, I have discovered exceptional diving on an intact passenger airliner at Punta del Peritito, El Sauzal, and I thoroughly recommend diving the tuna boat wreck, the Cita en el Mar, at Punta de la Rasca near Los Cristianos.'

DIVE CENTRES

Barakuda Diving Centre
00 34 922 741881
http://www.diving-tenerife.com

Ecosub
00 34 922 371731
http://ecosub@inicia.es

Island Divers Tenerife
020 8679 7069
http://www.island-divers.com

Los Gigantes Diving Centre
00 34 922 860431
http://www.divingtenerife.co.uk

SeaDive
00 34 922 681705
http://www.subcanaria.com

Tenesub
0034 922 731605
http://www.tenerifescuba.com  

TENERIFE SCUBA
00 34 922 785584
http://www.tenesub.com  

Thanks to the Tenerife Tourism Corporation (SPET) www.tenerifeyelmar.com and Monarch Scheduled Airlines http://www.flymonarch.com

EL HIERRO

Once known as 'the end of the known world', El Hierro is the smallest and most westerly of the Canary Islands. Covering 269 sq km, it is rural and largely untouched by tourism. The island feels remote, with its rugged coastlines and cliffs. El Hierro is about as far away as you can get from the stereotypical image of the Canary Islands. The south is a mix of semi-arid volcanic landscapes and pine forest, and the highest peak is Malpaso, at 1,501m.

The main centre for diving is located at La Restinga, a protected marine park in the south on the Mar de las Calmas (Sea of Calm) and host to Fotosub, one of the world's major underwater photography competitions. There are around half a dozen dive centres in La Restinga and about the same number of restaurants. This is definitely not the resort for you if you enjoy plenty of nightlife, but the diving is spectacular.

DIVE CENTRES

El Tamboril
00 34 922 557184
http://www.eltamboril.com

Fan Diving, Hierro
00 34 922 557085
http://www.el-hierro-tauchen.de

READER'S VERDICT
PAUL KAY, UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHER

'The diving in El Hierro is the best in the Canary Islands - it's like having St Kilda in the Tropics. There's a great selection of dive sites and lots of marine life, including the largest eel garden in the world, yellow morays, parrotfish, boxfish, eagle rays and stingrays. The night diving in the harbour was superb - plenty of sleeping fish, octopus, slipper lobsters, crabs and shrimps. My favourite dive was a pinnacle offshore that was absolutely heaving with marine life. We book our own flights to Tenerife and the dive centre, El Tamboril, arranges the ferry over to El Hierro.'

TOP DIVES

BAJA RIBERA, LA RESTINGA

This huge pinnacle suddenly looms out of the blue. It is surrounded with life, from large grouper to tiny nudibranchs. Close by is a cave inhabited by large fish and plenty of macro life. You can also see several different types of ray, filefish and morays.

EL ARCO, LA RESTINGA

A very pretty site, with topography that looks like gentle, rolling green hills. There is an arch at around 40m that is stunning and surrounded by black coral, with stingrays lying in the shadows. Lots of fish life can be found here including snapper, tuna and large grouper.