lanzarote

[David Wallace]

thinking at going to lanzarote at the end of jan .....
couple of questions....

Water temp?
are we likely to be blown out?
who do we dive with?
does anyone do twin12s? We are going to practice a whole bunch of skills andit would be better in twins

Any other advice ?

[Last Man Standing]

Done quite a bit of diving in Lanzarote in Jan/Feb. Quite often take a group of Uni students out for a training holiday.

Water temp will be around 18-19 C, air temp will be low 20's
Not likely to get blown out, if its rough on one side of the island you can usually dive on the other side. Main dive area is Playa Chica at Puerto Del Carmen or at the other end near Mala. There is also some diving to be had off of Arecife (indeed this is where the wreck of the Rabat lies). Its extremely rare to be blown out but you may have to switch plans and dive sites if the weather does take a turn for the worse.

I usually dive with Calipso Divers, which is a well organised and long-established British-run outfit. I have some bias as I know the owner and the regular staff. There are some other well-established outfits such as Safari Diving and Manta Diving.
Not that many outfits catering for twin 12's as a matter of routine as the popular dives in the area don't really demand that type of kit. However, some outfits may put together some twins if you need them and I'd suggest you contact a selection of outfits and see what they can offer.

Nitrox is readily available.

At this time of year I'd wear a 2 piece 7mm semi-dry although you may not need the hood on.

[Spacehopper]

David, I went to Lanzarote last September and dived with Rubicon Diving in Playa Blanca on the southern tip of the island. The centre was clean and well organised with good classrom facilities, a big kit storage/kitting up area changing room, showers etc. I took my own gear but the centres equipment, which was from a variety of manufacturers, appeared to be in good condition. They pump their own gas with nitrox at no extra charge. I used 15 litre cylinders and there was no extra charge for that either. Their affiliation is PADI/TDI and from talking to some of the guys there I know they do some technical stuff, rebreather courses etc. The instructors/DMs were a great bunch of guys and very helpful. The centre has two large rhibs with ladders and a hard boat on call for longer trips. I didn't see any sets of twins, but then I didn't look. I would imagine that they would fix you up if you were waving a few euros in their direction .

Sea temperature in January will be about 19 degrees (same as Tenerife), I was told that December/January is a good time to go as "that's when the big stuff comes in".

Rubicon Marina is a newish part of Playa Blanca and has grown out of a small fishing cove. It doesn't have all the hustle bustle of the other tourist resorts. The Marina area has a few good hotels but if you want nightclubs etc you need to go further up or down the coast.

Gareth

Disclaimer - I have no links with Rubicon Diving or Lanzarote, just went there on holiday and had a great time.

[David Wallace]

Cheers - I will give them both a call

[David D]

There is diving out of Playa Chica in Puerto Del Carmen, but it's pretty poor stuff better suited to try-divers and beginners. Perto Del Carmen is pretty horrible in any case. Avoid Safari Diving like the plague. Think about everything you hate about a PADI dive centre, that's Safari. Definitely don't cater for anything technical. There is at least one other dive operation in the area, Manta, who get better feedback.

I haven't dived any other areas but Teguise in the north gets better reviews for dive sites.

Marina Rubicon in the south is a really nice marina. Very quiet, surrounded by boutiques selling Boss, Lacoste etc, could get a bit tedious after a week. I've seen a dive rib moored up there, but couldn't tell you about the diving.

[dragonlid]

Did some dives with Manta last September after looking around and was happy with them, their kit was a bit worn but ok and the staff were very friendly and all things being equal will dive with them when we go back in May . Not at all impressed with Safari or an other one which i cant remember the name of but they were on a back streer off the main bar/shopping street in Del Carmen.


I too have no affilliation with Manta but like to look around before i buy !!!!!

[Stesh]

I had a couple of dives with Manta around fours years back when me & sandie first started diving and if we knew what we know now?, then we wouldn't have used them.
All I hope is their've improved since we used them and bought some new kit since then?
ie, some regs with octopus on them and BCD's with cambands which aren't that old and worn they can't hold a tank in place
Also I hope they don't still employ a guide that takes newly quailifed OW's down to 27metres and then splits a bubby pair up because ones on lower air and then buggers off himself leaving the one with no air to themselves in busy harbour!
Apart from that? Yeah friendly.

Lesson's learnt from this? Get your own kit and don't trust that guides are experienced.

[MATTBIN]

Dave
have a word with TerryH off here, he instructs through Calipso. I did my training with them, you probbaly saw what I was like shortly after diving/training with them (Terry had no part in it though) so that'll give you an idea of what they are like which probably means you'll go with someone else. Pete was/is(?) the owner, he's a laid back Brit.
Mala was and remains one of my all time favourite dives, you wont want to do it with twins though, the entry is a right bastard, the exit worse.

Matt

[tootricky]

Originally Posted by MATTBIN

Dave
have a word with TerryH off here, he instructs through Calipso. I did my training with them, you probbaly saw what I was like shortly after diving/training with them (Terry had no part in it though) so that'll give you an idea of what they are like which probably means you'll go with someone else. Pete was/is(?) the owner, he's a laid back Brit.
Mala was and remains one of my all time favourite dives, you wont want to do it with twins though, the entry is a right bastard, the exit worse.

Matt

yes, Pete is still there. They don't have twins but may be able to sort something out. They can be contacted at calipso@arrakis.es

Cheers/Nic

[jojac]

We went in November and dived with Calypso, great team , we will dive with them when we go back.