Tenerife · Spain · Wreck
Poco Naufragio
Five resident stingrays around a small wooden wreck
A small wooden wreck near the San Miguel marina, dived from about 16 metres down to 30. The wreck is the centre of the site rather than the point of it: a group of five stingrays lives around it and is used to being hand fed, and weavers, sardines and roncadores build over the same ground in numbers.
Also known as Amarilla.
Where it is and how deep
28.0193° N, 16.6117° WApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
You drop in at approximately 16 metres and, after a short swim, go down to 30, which is where the wreck and the fish are. The wreck itself is small and wooden, and everything on the site is centred on it — on open ground, one piece of structure is enough to hold a population, and that is what has happened here.
The rays are why divers come. A group of five lives in the area and can be hand fed, so they come to the divers rather than the other way round, and a large ray gliding across you and taking food gently from a hand is what people leave with. Weavers, sardines and roncadores swarm the same ground, so the water over the wreck is rarely empty. At 30 metres the bottom time is short, so the shape of the dive is the descent, the rays, and a steady return to the 16 m ground it started on.
The wreck
- Vessel
- Unidentified wooden vessel
- Type
- Small wooden wreck
- Cause
- Not recorded in any published source found for this site
- Lies
- Small wooden hull on the bottom, with the dive running from about 16 m down to 30 m
Marine life and season
- Stingrays
- 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 Tenerife: Divable all year in 18–25°C water; Jun–Oct is warmest and calmest, and winter swell mainly affects the north coast.
Know before you go
- The resident rays are used to being hand fed and will come in close to divers for it, which is worth being ready for if you are not used to animals approaching you.
Questions divers ask
How deep is Poco Naufragio?+
Divers drop in at approximately 16 metres and, after a short swim, descend to 30 metres, where the wreck and the resident rays are.
Sources
- Poco Naufragio (Wreck), Amarilla - Scubago — Scubago (SSI MyDiveGuide)
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
A Navy corvette sunk in 2016, top at 15 m, bottom at 30 m
A steamer on its side under gorgonian growth, at 18–31 m
A 1901 Greek steamer, still intact at 28–30 m
A Cessna wing at nearly 30 m, colonised as a miniature reef