Diving in Lanzarote - The FCDC
There are a number of professional and well run diving schools in Lanzarote, in all parts of the island, and they cater for holiday makers and residents alike.
A few years ago, a number of us, who were more experienced divers, with all of our own kit, decided to begin diving on our own and unguided. For us the great benefit was that we could explore new dive sites, and dive at a time and place to suit us, rather than fitting in to the dive school schedules.
It was shortly after one of our early dives, when we were sharing a post dive drink in Charco del Palo, that it dawned on us that we were all bald! And so The Follically Challenged Dive Club was born, and it is now well known across the island as The FCDC. Over the years, our numbers have increased and we now have around 20 members, about half of whom live here full time, with the remainder being very regular visitors to Lanzarote. Not all of our newer recruits are bald – we do make some exceptions for ladies, and for younger men, as long as they are at least beginning to recede.
We dive regularly at weekends, and occasionally during the week, and we’re happy to take guests with us, as long as they are suitably qualified and experienced divers. We’re responsible for discovering the now famous “Baldies Cave” dive site, as well as the “Grouper and Shrimp” cave off Playa Chica, and we have a reputation for pushing the dive envelope, whilst maintaining a 100% safety record.
We also have a lot of fun, both during and post diving. One of our traditions in recent years has been to place Christmas trees and a Santa Claus under water at Charco del Palo, and we have dived there every Christmas day for the last four years, before getting together with all our partners and non-diving friends for a slap up Christmas lunch.
Lanzarote is a diver’s heaven – the water temperature is perfect for wet suits all year round – the coldest water temperature I have logged is 18 degrees and in summer it can rise to 24 degrees. We don’t have any nasty things in our waters – jellyfish are rare, serious sharks hardly ever come inshore – the worst we have are sea urchins and scorpion fish, both easy to avoid. The best aspect to diving here is the visibility, it’s simply astonishing, and it’s always that which amazes UK divers. Here, you can genuinely see 20 to 30 meters, even at depth.
All around the island, the sea bed drops off with reefs created by lava flows. These reefs provide a fabulous habitat for fish and plant life, and an abundance if interesting caves to visit. On almost every dive we will see large grouper (the size of a man) stingrays, angel sharks, moray eels and barracuda. Sometimes we’re lucky enough to spot shy octopuses, sea horses, turtles, electric rays and trumpet fish. There are plenty of interesting anemones, and at 45 meters or more, there are whole “forests” of extremely rare and valuable black coral.
The grouper and shrimp cave is an amazing place to visit. At 42 meters, it needs a well planned dive, but is worth the trouble. Swimming through a dark tunnel into the cave itself can be scary, but once inside we turn on our lamps and watch the show! The cave is inhabited by half a dozen big grouper and thousands of large shrimp. Once the lights go on, the grouper “fly” around the cave, snapping up huge mouthfuls of the shrimp. You can hear the snapping and cracking!
We occasionally use oxygen enriched air, although the depths here are such that we tend to stick to regular air, but we have enjoyed hiring some underwater scooters, and we regularly use a boat to visit sites that are too far from shore to swim to. One such site is The Rabat, which is a wrecked freighter off Arrecife, which is in excellent condition and well worth a boat trip.
We have also dived the lighthouse off Playa Blanca, which is challenging due to strong currents, but fabulous as the fish are plentiful and undisturbed as the area is rarely dived.
Another unusual one is the reef just off Los Lobos island, which is shallow, but again plagued by strong currents. Here you can sit and watch abundant sea life, making its way between the islands of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura – it’s almost like an underwater highway!
Beyond the reefs, the sea bed slopes dramatically to over 300 meters depth, and one of life’s great feelings is simply plonking yourself on the sea bed at 30 meters, on the edge of one of these cliffs. This where the expression “deep blue” comes from, because all around you can see deep blue nothingness, and in the distance large shapes moving on the Atlantic travels – Sun Fish, whales, bug tuna and swordfish – amazing!
We welcome visiting divers, and especially enjoy our growing band of dive groupies, so if you see a bunch of us about to enter the water anywhere, please come and say hello and feel free to join in with the scoring of our entry techniques, which can be spectacular. You will recognize us – we’re the bald ones!
Thanks to Mike from Estupendo for yet another excellent article and photograph. Click the images to see them larger.
