Canary Islands

📍 Off Playa Blanca, Lanzarote

Jason deCaires Taylor's Atlantic installation — a field of submerged human figures and a sunken wall, built to draw diving pressure away from natural reef. One thing has to be said plainly: the installations sit at recreational diving depth, so this is a dive site and not a snorkel site. It belongs in this catalog because it is the islands' signature underwater site and the one snorkelers ask about, and because the honest answer is that you visit it on a dive, not on a snorkel.

Dive-depth installations, visited by guided divers — do not plan a snorkel trip for the museum itself. The snorkeling on Lanzarote is the shallow coves and reef.

📍 Puerto del Carmen, Lanzarote

A small sheltered cove in the middle of Lanzarote's main resort, with an easy entry over sand and rock and fish in shallow water — the island's established shore-dive and snorkel bay, and the simplest way to get in the water on Lanzarote without a boat.

A working dive bay in season, with boat and diver traffic and a busy beach — keep clear of the diver entry lines and swim with a marker float.

📍 El Puertito de Adeje, south-west Tenerife, below the Los Gigantes cliffs

A tiny cove on Tenerife's sheltered south-west coast where resident green turtles are a regular sight in shallow water over rock and sand — the island's best-known shore snorkel, and calm enough on most days for an unhurried swim from the beach. The Los Gigantes cliffs, which drop straight into deep water, are just up the coast.

The turtles are wild and protected and this is a small, popular bay — never touch or chase them, follow local guidance on how close to approach, and expect other swimmers in the water.

📍 La Restinga, El Hierro (Reserva Marina del Mar de Las Calmas)

El Hierro's marine reserve protects a stretch of calm, sheltered water off the island's southern tip, over volcanic rock, boulders and shallow reef — a reserve genuinely reachable from shore in the Mar de las Calmas, and the quietest of the islands' established snorkel spots.

A protected reserve with its own rules and restrictions on diving and fishing — verify the current reserve rules with a local operator before you swim.

📍 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, north-east Gran Canaria

A long city beach sheltered by a nearshore rock bar that keeps the bay unusually calm, with shallow rock, sand and fish along its inner edge — a genuinely easy urban snorkel and the sensible choice when the trade wind is up on the other coasts.

An urban beach used by swimmers, learners and water-sports traffic — stay on the sheltered side of the bar, stay inside the swimming areas, and check the local flag warnings and lifeguard advice.

Small potatoes boiled in heavily salted water until they wrinkle, served with mojo — a green coriander-and-garlic or red pepper sauce. It is the Canary Islands' most ubiquitous plate and the fastest way to understand what the islands eat.

Tip: Ask for both mojos and try them side by side — verde is herbal and piquant, rojo is smoky and hotter.

Vieja — parrotfish — grilled simply with garlic and served with boiled potatoes, or on the smaller islands in a sancocho, the local fish stew made with fish, potato and gofio. Order fish whole and ask what came in that day.

Tip: Gofio, the toasted-grain flour that shows up alongside stews and in desserts, is the Canaries' oldest food tradition; try it at least once.

The little coves on Tenerife's sheltered south-west coast have small beach kitchens that fry fresh fish and serve it with mojo and a cold beer within sight of the water you just swam in — the closest thing on these islands to the classic post-snorkel lunch.

Tip: Book or arrive early at the smallest spots in high season; the best ones are tiny and fill with locals first.