New Years Diving: suggestions please.

[cgsac]

My partner and I are looking for a week's diving end of Decmber/new year. We are thinking of either Canaries or Malta (we'll be in drysuits). I'd appreciate suggestions/opinions on those two(public or not) as we have not dived either.

Thank you very much.

[Dave Barratt]

January is out of season for Malta. Some of the dive schools close down. However, you may find that accommodation is less expensive as a result, which may suit, particularly if you are intending to dive unaccompanied. I would suggest that you e-mail a couple of the schools to find out what facilities they have at that time of year.

The Canaries is more of a year round detination. I can recommend Safari Divers in Lanzarote (see trip report elsewhere in Travel Club). Again, you can check availability and prices on their website.

[TerryH]

My partner and I are looking for a week's diving end of Decmber/new year. We are thinking of either Canaries or Malta (we'll be in drysuits). I'd appreciate suggestions/opinions on those two(public or not) as we have not dived either.

Thank you very much.

Big diffrence bewteen Malta & Canaries. You can easily use a
semi in the Canaries, considerably warmer. All in one 5/7mm
will suffice.

Main dive destinations are Tenerife & Lanzarote about equal
with joint 2nd Gran Canaria & Fuertuventura. Lots of good
reports about Hierro & La Palma, but dont go to these two
unless all you want is a VERY quiet dive holiday.

Lanzarote is about the most laid back without the hassle you
normaly associate with Tenerife and certain areas of Playa de
las Americas etc.

So that's what I'd suggest.
As for school and location you have three main choices.
Playa Blanca, Puerto del Carmen & Costa Teguise.

I'd go for Calipso Diving at Costa Teguise. Here's why.

Playa Blanca is pretty shallow. Even the gap bewteen the
islands is only 20m. So you will see a lot of ....sand.
Great snorkelling area, but not so good for diving as the
schools there bus people to ......

Puerto del Carmen. Now at first glance this seems a good spot.
A house reef, a stack of sunken wrecks, all sounds good yes?
Well no. Welcome to diver soup. The main beach Playa Chica is
the picadilly Circus of dive routes. Yes it's a good spot, but
the schools here get lazy. Why bother doing other sites/areas
when you can push your clients in the sea 100 yds away.

The other problem that unlike Playa Blanca and Costa Teguise
which are more focussed around a central area (sort of old
old village/town effort). PDC is a ribbon development
that runs for miles along the coast. Plenty of sand & beaches,
but only 2/3 streets back in depth, may mean that if you are
not careful you could be miles away from the dive school/area.

Go Costa Teguise and you a have a really nice area with
sheltered coves and sand beaches. Stacks of really good
restaurants and a town center all within walking distance.

The best dive school here is Calipso diving ........
www.calipso-diving.com

Now they use a fleet of new Iveco minbuses to transport from
your hotel to dive site. This is VERY important. Not relying
on a house reef means you are flexible with dive sites and can
pick and choose what YOU want and not's what gets the most
dosh on that day like those in Carmen.

This means you will be diving around Mala in the North which
is THE best area on Lanzarote. Too far for Playa Blanca schools
and often too much hassle for Carmen schools.

As for flights etc. you can get self catering on/about Dec 27th
for just over ?400. Wait until 2nd Jan and that comes down to
?200-?250. Forget hotels. This is restaurant heaven.

Got stacks more info. If you are interested, email me.

All IMO of course

HTH
TerryH

[Steven van Leeuwarden]

I think the other reactions already give some good information, so just one thing to add.

After having dives at both places, I would say Malta offers the better diving. The weather though will probably be better on the Canaries.

[cgsac]

Finally settled on the Canary Islands (Lanzarote) every day it was hot sunshine, the sea was about 19-20 degrees (almost too warm for drysuits) and the viz excellent. So I'd recommend it without hesitation. Thanks for advice.