Diving in Europe: Malta or the Canary Islands?

In Europe, you dive with the guides of the Atlas in Malta in the Mediterranean and on Lanzarote in the Atlantic. You fly to Malta in just over two hours, to Lanzarote in just over four. You enter with your ID card, pay in euros, and reach many sites from the shore by rental car. The biggest difference is the water. In Malta, it is 14 °C in February and 26 °C in August; on Lanzarote, it only fluctuates between 18 and 23 °C throughout the year.

	Malta	Lanzarote
Nonstop flight	just over 2 h	just over 4 h, from Austria with a connection
Time	as in Central Europe	one hour earlier
Water in February	14 °C	19 °C
Water in August	26 °C	22 °C
Wetsuit in winter	7 mm, semi-dry or dry	7 mm with hood
Busiest	July to October	July and August

Malta with wrecks and shore entries

On Malta, Gozo and Comino, wrecks and caves are located close to each other. In the north of Malta lies the Ċirkewwa Marine Park with the rock arch, Susie's Pool and the wrecks Rożi and P29, on the south coast the Um El Faroud, which you can reach from the shore or by boat. On Gozo, the Blue Hole near Dwejra is a shore dive, before Comino you dive from the boat, for example at Lantern Point and the wreck P31. The car ferry from Ċirkewwa takes about 25 minutes to Gozo.

For beginners, the dive centers recommend the HMS Maori in St. Elmo Bay and Susie's Pool, and before Comino, the P31 is often the first wreck dive for newly certified open-water divers. For Rożi, P29 and the Um El Faroud, they require at least Advanced Open Water with a certification for 30 m. To historical wrecks like the HMS Russell, only a dive center that has been authorized by Heritage Malta will take you.

From June to August, the conditions are the most stable. In winter, the sea is 14 to 17 °C, but there is little activity at the dive sites, and in a northwesterly wind, the southeast side of the islands remains calm. More on this can be found in Diving in Malta in Autumn and Winter.

Lanzarote with lava, angel sharks and the Museo Atlántico

On Lanzarote, you dive off Puerto del Carmen, Playa Blanca and Costa Teguise. At Playa Chica in Puerto del Carmen, you enter the water from the sandy beach or from the small pier El Muellito, two lava tongues protect the bay. It and Playa del Jablillo in Costa Teguise are the places for try-dives, courses and children. In Spain, children can dive from age 8, up to 9 years at most 6 m and up to 11 years at most 12 m deep. To the Museo Atlántico with the sculptures by Jason deCaires Taylor, the boat leaves from Marina Rubicón in Playa Blanca and takes five minutes.

Angel sharks lie on the sand, in the logbooks most often in May, at the Flamingo Wall after the reef in winter more frequently. Barracudas and stingrays you will encounter at almost every site all year round. In the Marine Reserve around La Graciosa in the north, you can only dive with a permit, which you must apply for at least one month in advance. Because the trade wind usually blows from north to northeast, the south coast is in the lee, and almost always a spot in the south is available. Which place is right for you is explained in Diving in Puerto del Carmen, Playa Blanca and Costa Teguise.

Other Canary Islands and Madeira

Separate guides for Gran Canaria and El Hierro are coming. On Gran Canaria, you go from the shore to El Cabrón at Arinaga, a Natura 2000 area since 2011, and by boat to the wreck of the Arona off Las Palmas. On El Hierro, the boats leave from La Restinga to Mar de las Calmas. In the Marine Reserve off La Restinga, you can only dive from the boat at a buoy, the dive centers need a permit for this, and a boat takes at most ten divers. Work is also being done on guides for Madeira and the Azores. On the pages of the guides for Gran Canaria, El Hierro, Madeira and the Azores, you can sign up with "Let me know" and find out when they are published.

Europe in winter or the Red Sea after all?

From December to March, you dive in Malta in 14 to 17 °C, on Lanzarote in 18 to 20 °C, at both destinations in a 7-mm wetsuit. If you want it warmer in winter, you don't have to fly much longer. To Hurghada and Marsa Alam, you are on the road from Germany for four to five hours, similarly long as to Lanzarote, and the sea there is still 24 to 25 °C in December and 22 °C in February. For Egypt, you need a visa. Which region on the Red Sea is right for you is explained in Sharm el-Sheikh, Hurghada or Marsa Alam?, and all months at a glance in Where to dive in which month?.

Portraits of the sites with entry and parking, the ferries and dive centers and two diving weeks with Plan B in case of wind are in the Malta Diving Atlas and the Lanzarote Diving Atlas.