
Tenerife · Spain · Reef · Wall
Montaña Amarilla
PADI's submerged lunar landscape, reef and wall to 18 m
Photo: Mataparda · CC BY-SA 2.0
Montaña Amarilla — 'yellow mountain' — is a boat dive on reef and wall ground on Tenerife's south coast, with a maximum depth of 18 metres. PADI lists the Open Water Diver course as the training the site calls for and describes the terrain as a submerged lunar landscape, which is close to all that has been published about what is down there.
Also known as Montana Amarilla.
Where it is and how deep
28.0090° N, 16.6385° WPublished position for this site.
The dive
The dive is a boat drop onto reef and wall ground that PADI describes as a submerged lunar landscape. Maximum depth is 18 metres, so the profile stays well inside no-decompression limits and the dive ends on gas rather than on time at depth. PADI names the Open Water Diver course as the training the site calls for, which puts it within reach of a diver on their first trip after certification and makes it straightforward to repeat as a second dive.
What has not been published is as notable as what has. No source found for this record gives a current rating, a visibility figure or any marine life specific to Montaña Amarilla — the sightings list on its directory page repeats word for word across other Tenerife sites, so it says nothing about this one in particular. Ask the centre running the boat what the water is doing on the day and what has been about lately rather than working from a written profile.
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 Tenerife: Divable all year in 18–25°C water; Jun–Oct is warmest and calmest, and winter swell mainly affects the north coast.
Sources
- Montana Amarilla dive site — PADI
Photo credits
- Close-up of layered ochre and rust-colored volcanic rock strata at Montaña Amarilla by Mataparda, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
More dive sites in Tenerife
Reef
Hexagonal basalt columns between 16 and 30 m
Reef
Rocky ground at 30 m, current, and tuna on occasion
Cave & cavern
A 12 m cavern with two halls and a light hole in the ceiling
Cave & cavern
A cavern entrance at 49 m below a barracuda-covered cliff
Pinnacle
A pinnacle from 13 to 45 m with at least two routes on it
A cement-laden cargo ship broken among basalt columns, 6 m to 21 m
Two shallow terraces ending at a pair of mushroom-shaped rock heads
Wall
An arch at 38 to 45 m on a ledge that falls to 60
Similar dives elsewhere
Reef
An Auter
Belle-Île-en-Mer & Quiberon · France
Labyrinths, overhangs and canyons in one shallow rock dive
Steps at the Lido to a 5-to-18-metre fall
Reef
Prison Break
Azores · Portugal
Two parallel walls sheltering a reef from 5 to 18 m
Shore-accessible rock from 0 to 18 m over a Phoenician port


