Lanzarote & Museo Atlántico · Spain · Cave & cavern · Wall
Punta Tiñosa Cave
A cave on volcanic platforms above a 35 m drop
Area photo: Julien Renoult · CC BY 4.0
The ground off Puerto del Carmen is volcanic and abrupt: extensive platforms carrying caves and veriles, the local name for the underwater cliffs that drop away very close to the coast. Punta Tiñosa is dived in three steps, from a first level at 6 to 12 metres down through 18 metres to a maximum of 35, with the cave the site is named for on that terrain.
Also known as Punta Tiñosa.
Where it is and how deep
28.9198° N, 13.6812° WPublished position for this site.
The dive
The landscape is the reason to dive here. The underwater orography off this stretch of Puerto del Carmen is volcanic and gives a variety of shapes unusual even within the Canaries: extensive platforms broken by caves and by veriles, the underwater cliffs that fall away very close to the coast. The cave in the site's name sits in that ground.
The dive is built in levels. The first sits between 6 and 12 metres, the second steps down to 18, and the last descends to the site's maximum of 35, so how deep you go is a decision taken before you drop rather than something the terrain does to you. Rays and electric rays are on the sand, anemones and sponges on the rock, and a torch matters: the recesses and the cave read as black without one.
Groups work the platform and the cave and come back over the shallower rock, which puts the last of the dive on the 6 to 12 metre level where the light is. The stepped profile is what makes the site work across a range of experience, and the shapes in the rock are as good on the top level as on the bottom one.
Marine life and season
- Stingrays
| 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 Lanzarote & Museo Atlántico: Divable all year in 18–24°C water; Jun–Oct is warmest and calmest, and angel sharks are most reliably seen Nov–Mar.
Know before you go
- The veriles fall away immediately off the platform, so it is easy to run past the planned depth simply by following the edge outward.
Questions divers ask
How deep is Punta Tiñosa Cave?+
The site is dived in three levels: 6 to 12 metres, then 18, then a maximum of 35 metres. The cliffs alongside drop further, and unusually they do so very close to the coast.
Sources
- Punta Tiñosa Cave dive site — Scubago
- Punto de buceo Punta Tiñosa — Rubicon Diving
More dive sites in Lanzarote & Museo Atlántico
Wall
A wall behind the lighthouse dropping past 80 m
Artificial reef
A dive that starts at a submerged boat and runs to 40 m
Wall
A branch of orange coral inside a cave at the end of the wall
Cave & cavern
A cave full of narwhal shrimp on a wall with a 40 m foot
A drop-off starting at 15 to 18 metres, dived from the beach
Artificial reef
Europe's first underwater museum, opened in January 2017
Reef
A lava reef dived as a multilevel from 12 m down to 20 m
Reef
Six-metre lava formations with schooling barracuda, all inside 18 m
Similar dives elsewhere
A narrow gorge from 23 m to a portal in the reef at 32 m
Two caves and a wall, with fresh water on the ceiling
A sea cave in a cliff that shelters large jacks and sargos
Cave & cavern
Cueva de Radazul
Tenerife · Spain
A cavern entrance at 49 m below a barracuda-covered cliff