La Palma · Spain · Wreck · Reef
El Ala
A Cessna wing at nearly 30 m, colonised as a miniature reef
Area photo: Frank Vincentz · CC BY-SA 3.0
The wing of a Cessna lies at nearly 30 m off Los Cancajos, what remains of an aircraft accident, and it has become a small reef in its own right. Anemones and several kinds of shrimp live inside the wing, a reef lobster is sometimes wedged in it, and the patch of rock alongside carries the smallest gorgonians and the biggest spider crabs.
Where it is and how deep
28.6540° N, 17.7589° WPublished position for this site.
Site maps published elsewhere
The dive
The target is a single wing, sitting on the bottom at nearly 30 m off Los Cancajos. It is an easy deep dive in the sense that there is nothing technical about it, no penetration and no line work, but it is deep enough that air consumption decides how long the visit lasts, so groups tend to drop onto it directly rather than work out to it along the rock.
Look inside the wing rather than at it. Anemones have taken hold in the structure, different shrimps live in it, and a reef lobster is sometimes tucked into the space. The small reef beside it repays the same close attention: the smallest gorgonians grow here, and the largest spider crabs sit under the ledges. It is a macro dive built around a piece of wreckage.
The wreck
- Vessel
- Cessna light aircraft
- Type
- Light aircraft, wing section
- Cause
- Lost in an aircraft accident; only the wing remains
- Lies
- Wing section on the bottom at nearly 30 m, with a small reef alongside it
Marine life and season
- Macro critters
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good |
Season follows La Palma: Diving runs year round; the south-coast centre rates September to November best, when the trade winds ease and the water is warmest. Dives and boat transits inside the marine reserve are capped.
Sources
- El Ala — Scubago
- Die besten Tauchspots auf La Palma — Punkfish Diving
- Guía de Buceo La Palma 2019 — Cabildo de La Palma / Oceanográfica
More dive sites in La Palma
Cave & cavern
Lava arches at 14 to 18 m on the edge of the marine reserve
Pinnacle
Three offshore rocks, two tunnels through the biggest
Cave & cavern
Two lava cathedrals and a run of arches, all inside 12 m
Cave & cavern
More than ten lava arches strung between 5 and 10 m
Rows of crosses on the sand at 15 m, set here in 1999
Two entries 350 m apart: arches inshore, lava tongues to 40 m
A wall from 10 m to past 40 m, straight off the beach
Pinnacle
A 20 m black-coral tower rising from 50 m off the Fuencaliente lighthouse
Similar dives elsewhere
Four wrecks between 14 m and the 50 m floor of the ría
Nearly 152 metres of liner (500 feet), broken across the reef in under 20 m
The 27 m liveaboard Atlantis X, bow at 16 m
Tiles still in the holds, bow at 3 m and stern at 26 m