El Hierro · Spain · Cave & cavern · Reef
Playa Brava (Cueva de Arena)
A 25 m long cave at only 8 m, next to the mooring
Area photo: javiersanp · CC BY-SA 3.0
Playa Brava is dived from a small cove up the coast from La Restinga, down onto rocky ground that reaches 20 to 25 meters. The feature that gives the site its second name comes at the end rather than the start: a fairly large cave about 25 meters long lying at just 8 meters, back near where the boat is moored.
Also known as Cueva de Arena.
Where it is and how deep
27.6812° N, 17.9669° WPublished position for this site.
The dive
From the small cove where the boat is moored you descend onto rocky seabed that reaches depths of 20 to 25 meters. That is the deep section of the dive and it comes first, so plan the gas for it accordingly: this is volcanic ground, broken rock rather than reef, and it repays being worked slowly along its features rather than swum across at speed.
The best of the site is saved for the shallow half. Back near the mooring area there is a fairly large cave about 25 meters long, lying at just 8 meters deep, so it sits within safety-stop range and can be given real time at the end of a dive rather than a hurried look. A light is worth carrying for it even in the bright water here.
Run the profile in that order — deep ground out from the cove, then the cave on the way back — and the dive shallows steadily from beginning to end. Because the cave is right by the mooring, the boat is above you when you finish and there is no long shallow swim to close the dive out.
Marine life and season
The sources we used don't single out particular species here.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good |
Season follows El Hierro: Diveable year-round with mild swings in temperature; Jun–Oct brings the calmest seas and warmest water.
Questions divers ask
How deep is the cave at Playa Brava?+
The cave lies at just 8 meters and runs about 25 meters long, near the mooring area, while the rest of the site is rocky seabed reaching 20 to 25 meters.
Sources
- Playa Brava (Cueva de Arena) dive site — Scubago/SSI
More dive sites in El Hierro
Wall
A drop-off from 20 m and a swim-through at the 6 m stop
Cave & cavern
A rock gate onto an 18 m plateau with two standing towers
Seamount
Twin peaks at 8 m over walls falling 80 m, in current that feeds the fish
Wall
A 20 m rock arch, with sand tiger sharks from June to October
Wall
A ravine that ends at a vertical wall and cave past 30 m
Wall
A 20 m lava platform ending at a wall that falls past 40 m
Similar dives elsewhere
Lava arches at 14 to 18 m on the edge of the marine reserve
The archipelago's simplest dive, 6 m average in a sheltered bay
More than ten lava arches strung between 5 and 10 m
A tunnel in at 8 metres, out at 18