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Are you unaware of just how fantastic the Atlantic is? Discover this ocean’s inner beauty by snorkelling on Gran Canaria. As we did with Davy Jones Diving.
Davy Jones Diving is a five-star PADI diving centre. If you’ve got cold feet regarding taking the plunge, the baby steps offered by their snorkelling excursions (themselves family-friendly activities for those not old enough to dive) are a way of working up to this. We tell you all about snorkelling with them in our latest three-part guide.
1. Snorkelling on Gran Canaria with Davy Jones Diving: what
Snorkelling is easy on Gran Canaria. You can pick up a snorkel and a mask at the likes of souvenir shops although fins are a more specialist purchase. However, do you really know what you’re looking at if you go snorkelling solo?
The perks of booking a snorkelling excursion with such a reputable firm as Davy Jones Diving is that they boast local knowledge. Such as that shared by owner Brian Goldthorpe. When Mr Gran Canaria Local whinged that entering the Atlantic felt colder than it should given the fact it’s warmer than the famously balmy Med at times, Brian liked the sensation to walking through the doors of an air-conditioned shopping centre as in your body will respond to the dip in temperature.
Despite being born and bred in Italy, our guide Simone Dori has gone native in Arinaga. He knows its waters like his palm’s rear. Simone was great at literally pointing out what us more novice snorkellers might well have swum on by.
2. Snorkelling on Gran Canaria with Davy Jones Diving: where
Davy Jones Diving operate of a base in Arinaga, in the south east of the island. Casa Limon on Calle Luis Velasco is set back from the promenade and its own private shaded garden is a great place to chill between dives. Although there’s no food licence, you can use the kitchen to make your own tea and coffee and plenty of bars and cafes nearby should you wish to pick up a take-out bocadillo.
We walked with Simone to the piscina natural on the front. After zipping up our wetsuits (we wore them topless out of the water because of the heat) and strapping on our fins, he talked us through the basics. I.e spitting on our mask before washing it out with seawater to clean it, checking out the rocks for the more interesting marine activity, and snorkelling close to each other so we didn’t lose one another.
As the tide was out, the natural swimming pool was at its shallowest; so separation wasn’t ever an issue. However, we took the advice on board for our next stop: the El Cabron marine reserve. This out-of-the-way beach is only accessible by 4×4 and its landscape shares much with Lanzarote’s lunar-like one.
The Atlantic was a bit feistier here which resulted in some salty water entering our snorkels. But there was much to love underwater. Again, the rocks were a veritable aquatic Aladdin’s Cave of marine lifeforms doing their weird and wonderful stuff.
Sadly, we failed to spot any angel sharks or seahorses. We did see colourful nudibranchs, however, which were far more interesting to look at that than land-based slugs. Along with the similarly vivid parrotfish, although we kept our distance from the sea urchin which is a delicacy in local restaurants.
3. Snorkelling on Gran Canaria with Davy Jones Diving: when
Davy Jones Diving offer excursions Monday to Saturday from 09:00am to 12:30pm and between the afternoon hours of 2:30pm and 6:00pm. To keep disappointment at bay, it’s best to contact them in advance. They have a Freephone number (+34 900 460 147) and you can also email them at info@davyjonesdiving.com.
Disclaimer: Normally, a guided snorkelling excursion with Davy Jones Diving costs €49 per person with special offers for families of 4+. Mr Gran Canaria Local and eldest sons Dani and Alex snorkelled for free. As we offered to write this blog post in exchange.