Rock formations
down to 14 m
La Amatista
Easy-to-follow channels from 5 to 14 m below the Amatista viewpoint, home to groupers, morays and the odd octopus.
- Open Water
- Octopus
Cabo de Gata
Diving in Spain
10 documented dive sites, 5 of them for Open Water divers. Known for eagle rays, dentex and amberjacks.
- Good months
- Mar–Aug
- Water
- 14–26 °C
- Levels
- Open Water, Advanced, Experienced
- Nearest airport
- LEI
When to go
Pick a month: the diving season, from published sources, and the typical weather.
Pick a month
- Best
- Good
- Possible
- Closed
- Not documented yet
Cabo de Gata in October
Possible- Sea
- 21 °C
- at the surface
- Air
- 25 °C
- 18 °C at night
- Rain
- 30 mm
- average for the year
- Wind
- 16 km/h
- on average
Exposure suit: 5 mm full suit · if you feel the cold: 7 mm full suit or 8/7 mm semi-dry. How we choose
Typical weather, not a forecast: averages for 2021–2025 (air, rain, wind) and 2023–2025 (sea), data from Open-Meteo (ERA5 / Copernicus, Météo-France). Covers an area of roughly 10 to 25 km around the destination.
Dived all year, with better visibility in spring and summer; conditions may limit dives in winter.
Dive sites in Cabo de Gata
From the easiest to the most demanding. Levels with a dashed outline are estimates we are still verifying.
Scuba in the Cabo de Gata-Níjar marine reserve needs prior authorisation and is not allowed in the integral-reserve zones; anchoring is banned in the park's marine-reserve (A2) zones, where some twenty buoys serve the dive centres.
Open Water friendly
usual dive down to 18 m5 sitesReef
down to 14 m
La Restinga de las Anclas
A 400 m rocky bar rising 2 m off the bottom, never deeper than 14 m, where groupers and morays shelter.
- Open Water
- Mola mola (sunfish)
Reef
down to 16 m
Los Socabones
Large loose boulders scattered across a Posidonia meadow at 12–16 m.
- Open Water
For Advanced divers
usual dive down to 30 m3 sitesReef
down to 23 m
Los Amarillos (Los Burros)
Two rock formations split by a sand channel at 18–21 m, where groupers and amberjacks are abundant.
- Advanced
- Amberjacks
For experienced divers
usual dive down to 40 m2 sitesMarine life
When the big encounters happen, month by month.
Reported here, season not documented yet:
- Eagle rays
- Dentex
- Amberjacks
- Barracuda
- Crustaceans
- Octopus
- Groupers
- Moray eels
- Mola mola (sunfish)
Where is Cabo de Gata?
- Nearest airport
- LEI
Cabo de Gata: frequently asked questions
- When is the best time to dive Cabo de Gata?
- The good months to dive Cabo de Gata are Mar–Aug. Dived all year, with better visibility in spring and summer; conditions may limit dives in winter.
- Is Cabo de Gata good for beginner divers?
- Yes, partly: 5 of the 10 dive sites we document are suited to Open Water divers, including La Amatista, La Restinga de las Anclas and Los Socabones. The others need more experience or a higher certification.
- What is the water temperature in Cabo de Gata?
- The water is usually between 14 °C and 26 °C over the year.
- What marine life can you see in Cabo de Gata?
- Divers regularly see eagle rays, dentex, amberjacks, barracuda, crustaceans and octopus.
- How do you dive Cabo de Gata?
- The nearest airport is LEI.
About this page
Seasons and marine life come from the sources below. Site levels and depths marked as estimated come from our original catalogue and are being checked one by one. Conditions change: always confirm with a local dive centre.
Your next dive is somewhere out there.
Find my next dive tripPhoto credits
- Sunlight and bubbles in deep blue water, Sarah Lee, Unsplash License, on Unsplash