Beginner Scuba Dive and Turtle Snorkel Experience Tenerife

The dive centre in Costa Adeje

The experience starts at a dive centre in the nautical school by the marina in Costa Adeje, one of the main resort areas on the south-west coast of Tenerife. Here you meet your instructor, fill in a short health form and receive a clear safety briefing of about 30 minutes on how to breathe through the regulator, equalise your ears and communicate under water with simple hand signals.

Then you are fitted with a wetsuit, fins, mask and the scuba equipment, all included. The south-west coast of Tenerife is protected from the trade winds by the island's mountains, so the sea is calm on most days and the water clear. If you are searching for scuba diving in Tenerife for beginners, Costa Adeje is one of the best places to start.

Speedboat ride and the Costa Adeje coast

From the marina, a speedboat carries the group along the coast for about 15 minutes to the dive site. On the way you see the resorts of Costa Adeje and Playa de las Américas give way to rocky shores and small coves, with Mount Teide rising inland and the island of La Gomera on the horizon.

The waters between Tenerife and La Gomera are a protected marine area and the waters of a resident population of pilot whales and several species of dolphins. They are not the purpose of this trip, but the crew keeps watch during the boat rides, and sightings are a wonderful bonus. Even if you choose not to dive or snorkel, the boat ride offers beautiful views of the coast.

Your first scuba dive to 12 metres

With your instructor holding you close and guiding every movement, you enter the water and slowly descend to a maximum depth of 12 metres. The dive lasts about 25 minutes. The feeling of breathing under water for the first time, weightless above rocks and sand, is something most people never forget, and the ratio of one instructor for two divers keeps it safe and relaxed.

The volcanic seabed of Tenerife creates arches, ledges and boulders that shelter colourful marine life: parrotfish, trumpetfish, shoals of small fish, octopus hiding in cracks and rays gliding over the sand. Turtles sometimes swim past divers too. Your instructor points out each creature and makes sure you stay comfortable throughout the first dive in Tenerife.

Snorkelling with sea turtles

After the dive, you spend about 25 minutes snorkelling in a sea turtle area off the coast of Costa Adeje. Green turtles feed on the seagrass and algae here and are used to swimming near people, so you can often watch them glide below you or rise to the surface to breathe. Keep a respectful distance and never touch them, so that they stay calm and natural.

Turtle sightings are very frequent but can never be guaranteed, as these are wild animals. Snorkelling is easy with the mask and fins provided, and the instructors stay with the group in the water. This turtle snorkel tour in Tenerife is one of the island's favourite sea activities, and combining it with a first dive makes for a full morning or afternoon on the ocean.