Fuerteventura · Spain · Cave & cavern · Wall
El Fafo
A narrow gorge from 23 m to a portal in the reef at 32 m
Area photo: H. Zell · CC BY-SA 3.0
El Fafo is a secret cave northwest of Lobos, reached by a vertical descent down a narrow gorge from 23 metres to 32. At the bottom the reef opens into what divers call a church portal, and tunnels and cracks run off through the volcanic rock around it. Dusky groupers hold in the opening and angel sharks turn up on the sand below.
Where it is and how deep
28.7673° N, 13.8418° WPublished position for this site.
The dive
Northwest of the small island of Lobos the boat anchors at 23 metres on top of a volcanic platform. From there the dive goes straight down: a narrow gorge cut into the rock, descended vertically to 32 metres. It is a committing start, because the shallowest ground on the whole dive is the platform you have just left at the top of it.
At the bottom the reef opens out into what divers here call a church portal, and tunnels and cracks run off through the volcanic rock around it. Dusky groupers hold in the opening, including the rare one known locally as the capitan, with sea breams and barracuda in the water outside and heavier groupers pushed back into the cracks where the light stops.
On the sand below, rays rest and angel sharks turn up from time to time. The whole dive sits between 23 and 32 metres, so bottom time is short and the turn comes on gas and no-decompression limits rather than on how much of the rock is left to see. The ascent runs back up the gorge to the platform, and the stop is made over the top of it.
Marine life and season
- Groupers
- Barracuda
- Reef fish swarms
| 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 Fuerteventura: Divable in every month; water runs 18–23°C, coolest in late winter and warmest from August into October, and the desert climate keeps conditions mild.
Know before you go
- The gorge and the tunnels put rock overhead in places at around 32 m, so a light and a clear route back out matter as much as the depth itself.
Questions divers ask
How deep is El Fafo?+
The platform where boats anchor is at 23 metres and the gorge drops vertically to 32, where the reef opens into the portal. There is no shallower ground on the site.
What do you see at El Fafo?+
Dusky groupers, including the rare capitan, sea breams and barracuda around the portal, heavier groupers back in the cracks, and rays and occasional angel sharks on the sand below.
Sources
- El Fafo dive site — Scubago
More dive sites in Fuerteventura
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Huge ancient anchors on a wall running from 18 m to 27 m
Reef
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A diveable breakthrough in an 18 m rock wall at 32 m
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A volcanic plateau at 24 m dropping to sand at 35 m
Reef
Wreckage and coal at 12 m under a reef that crests at 1.5 m
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