Playa La Salemera

From the southern entry the route follows the shelf away from the beach, passing a large anchor on the way out and coming back over the same ground. Depth is a choice rather than a given: the shallowest line runs towards the lighthouse and hugs the coast at only three to four metres, while the lava field itself keeps stepping down through patches of bright sand and black rock to about 40 m.

The northern entry, 350 m up the coast, gives two options. Close in, the route passes through a run of arches in the lava; further out, tongues of rock lead down to whatever depth your certification allows, with the shelf still dropping below that. The north side only works when the sea is calm, so it tends to be the dive of a settled day rather than the first plan of the week.

Yellow sponges cover the rock in numbers, and groupers, amberjacks and tuna hold in the clear water off the shelf, with large stingrays frequent on the sand. A hawksbill turtle has swum straight up to divers here. Trumpetfish hunt in the shallows, and one was watched shadowing a red hogfish, keeping alongside it as though riding it while it picked off small fish.