Fuerteventura March 2025

Thursday 27th of March saw 8 of us heading to Gatwick to board our lunchtime flight departure South to the Spanish island of Fuerteventura within the Canary Islands for another short diving adventure. After a smooth plane ride and gentle landing, we arrived in Fuerteventura to take the apparently 30-minute coach transfer to our accommodation in Corralejo. That turned out to be a complete mis-sell on behalf of the travel company, so we got to Hesperia Bristol Playa mid-evening (1hr30mins) and settled in to our comfortable but budget accommodation, before heading out to the old town nearby to grab some tapas.

The diving was the reason we all came here, and Fuerteventura didn’t disappoint. With great visibility and the diving was easy – in fact I’d call it 20/20/20 – 20m visibility most of the time 20m deep dives, and the water was an enjoyable 20°C (which was a welcome relief from the current frigid temperatures of UK waters). It’s great to be down at a warm sea floor while still being able to see the surface – you feel the scale of you and the amazing environment you’re in.

Our 6 dives took place over 3 days from a Dive Centre decent RIB with a ladder (a much-appreciated bit of equipment), making our exits considerably more graceful after each dive. The water was pretty calm though one or two of the dives had medium currents which were expected. Apparently, the week before had been windy and therefore very choppy so we struck it lucky on our trip timing.

The first day’s diving had us hitting the Calamaero then Baia De Luis dive sites, with the latter being a set of 3 giant flattened mushroom-shaped formations with plenty of overhang for fish to congregate. We were lucky enough to have a fantastic surprise near the end of the dive with a close encounter with a Sea Turtle (which was probably a Loggerhead based on looking it up post-dive), a much-enjoyed first for me, and one I won’t forget.

For day two we headed out to Bajon Del Rio where after a couple of small rays provided the build up to an absolutely huge (probably 2.5m tip to tail) Stingray chilling under a precipice – great footage was taken, but we were also careful not to startle it or get too close due to the obvious risks. The afternoon after our usual return to port for refills (Nitrox), we were taken to an underwater crater at the Carrera site, which although was uneventful and not filled with wildlife, provided us a picturesque geography I’d not seen before.

The last day were the Bocayna and Puente sites, with more easy diving enjoyed and a short cave swim-through and some interesting geology and arches on a shallow dive as our last one of the trip.

In between all the diving, we drank (responsibly) and dined heartily in the old town with a few of the group going for a long hot walk up to the crater of a nearby extinct volcano one afternoon. After the obligatory last day mass-drying of kit, we headed out for a curry for the evening then travelled back the next morning (taking a taxi instead to the airport as the much better option after having learned our lesson on arrival).

I’ll remember the Fuerteventura trip for the barren moonlike landscape, the fantastic vis, warm(ish) waters, and a fun and organised dive centre, and seeing some big ticket marine life. That combined with the friends we shared it with made for a great set of memories. Thanks Christina for organising, it was very much enjoyed.