Lanzarote vs Tenerife: Which Island for Diving and Surf?
by Yannick SchrothOct 27, 202613 min read
A surfer at Caleta de Famara on Lanzarote's north-west coast, February 2011: the winter swell that is half of the Lanzarote case. Photo: Dguendel, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0, cropped.
| Lanzarote | Tenerife | |
|---|---|---|
| Main dive coast | Puerto del Carmen to Playa Blanca, south-east and south | Los Cristianos to the Teno-Rasca coast, south and west |
| Natura 2000 site off that coast | ZEC Cagafrecho, 633.17 ha off Tías | ZEC Teno-Rasca, 69,489.68 ha off five municipalities |
| Sea surface, March / September | 18.9 / 23.1 °C (south-east) | 20.1 / 24.1 °C (south) |
| North-coast swell in January, mean / hours at 2 m+ | 2.12 m / 53% | 2.12 m / 58% |
| Model hours at 16 kn or more, July / December | Famara 11% / 8% | El Médano 52% / 38% |
| Airport passengers, 2025 | 8.9 million at César Manrique-Lanzarote | 14.0 million at Tenerife South, 7.2 million at Tenerife North |
| Households with fibre, June 2025 | 88.8% in Tías and in Teguise | 97.1% in Arona, 96.0% in Granadilla de Abona |
| Watersports businesses on our lists | 21 | 28 |
Water is NOAA's satellite sea surface temperature for 2021 to 2025, swell is the Copernicus Marine wave model for 2023 to 2025 and wind is ECMWF's 9 km model for 2023 to 2025, all averaged for this page. Rules, timetables, coverage and visa terms are as read on the issuing body's pages on 27 October 2026.
Lanzarote vs Tenerife for diving: shore entries at Puerto del Carmen, boats along Teno-Rasca
Lanzarote's dive centres face south and east, away from the swell. The wave model cell about 11 km south of Puerto del Carmen averages 0.78 m across 2023 to 2025 and reaches 2 m in 2% of hours at most in any month. The cell off Tenerife's south-west, south-west of Playa de las Américas, averages 1.13 m. One coast is calmer.
The sea off Puerto del Carmen is a Natura 2000 site, a small one. ZEC Cagafrecho covers 633.17 hectares and bathes the coast of Tías, the municipality that Puerto del Carmen and its old harbour at La Tiñosa belong to. Next to it, ZEC Sebadales de Guasimeta covers 1,276.05 hectares off Arrecife, San Bartolomé and Tías. Tenerife's Teno-Rasca site is more than a hundred times the size of Cagafrecho. All three have been Special Areas of Conservation since September 2011.
What lives on that small Lanzarote site is documented in unusual detail. In summer 2025 the environment ministry put out for comment a project to replace the moorings at Punta Tiñosa with low-impact ones. Its survey found 19 moorings, two of them too deep to film. Four are dive moorings, and the project keeps them and changes only the buoys, because protected seahorses, Hippocampus hippocampus, live around their concrete blocks and lines. It also records that the strip of the ZEC closest to the coast is identified as a critical area for the angelshark.
The angelshark is the animal that ties the two islands together. In a citizen-science survey of 678 sightings between April 2014 and March 2015, Puerto del Carmen was one of four places with a high frequency of sightings, and six of the 22 dive centres taking part were on Lanzarote against two on Tenerife. Tenerife recorded 36 of the 69 newborns, at a nursery area then being monitored; the authors name a second possible nursery on Lanzarote, where 21 newborns were reported. Males were commonest from November to January, females and newborns from April to July.
Our Lanzarote diving guide covers Playa Chica and the Puerto del Carmen wrecks site by site.
Tenerife's Teno-Rasca coast: resident pilot whales and a 60-metre rule for divers
ZEC Franja Marina de Teno-Rasca covers 69,489.68 hectares off Buenavista del Norte, Santiago del Teide, Guía de Isora, Adeje and Arona. In a 2023 communication the environment ministry calls the short-finned pilot whales there a resident population, sighted all year, and names Japan, Madeira, California and Hawaii as the only other places with known resident populations. It also says the zone carries the largest supply of recreational whale watching in the Canaries, and it asked for a moratorium on new watching permits.
For a diver that has a practical edge. Spain's cetacean decree, Real Decreto 1727/2007, draws a protection space of 500 m around any whale or dolphin and forbids bathing or diving in its inner exclusion zone of at least 60 m. If a pod surfaces beside the boat, the dive waits.
Lanzarote's cetaceans live further out. The ministry's summary for the proposed site east and south of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura counts 28 cetacean species recorded in the waters of the two islands, describes a resident population of bottlenose dolphins, and says five of the eight multi-species mass strandings of beaked whales known worldwide happened in that area. It places them over the island slope, the abyssal plain and seamounts such as El Banquete and Amanay, which is deep water rather than a dive site.
The Tenerife diving guide goes through the wrecks and the whale rules in full.
The Museo Atlántico off Playa Blanca in 2026: no ticket desk, so book a dive-centre boat
The Museo Atlántico is a sculpture park at 12 to 14 m off Playa Blanca, ten groups of figures by Jason deCaires Taylor. On 10 January 2024 the Cabildo announced its intention to reopen the Museo Atlántico and set up a working group with SPEL, the island's tourism company, and the artist, "to define a model and set a timetable". The same day the Canary public broadcaster reported that the museum had closed in 2020.
In July 2024 SPEL wrote that it had taken on the project and was in a diagnosis phase, after a meeting on 3 July with the island's tourism federation, the diving association BUCO and the Canary maritime cluster. SPEL's corporate news, searched on 27 October 2026, has no later item on the museum. The online shop of CACT, the island's network of art and tourism centres, sells tickets to six sites on 27 October 2026: Cueva de los Verdes, the Castillo de San José art museum, Jameos del Agua, Jardín de Cactus, Mirador del Río and Montañas del Fuego. The Museo Atlántico is not one of them.
So the practical way in is a dive centre's boat. Three centres on our Lanzarote list publish their prices, read on 27 October 2026: Dawn Dives charges €60 for the museum boat dive, Rubicon Diving from €65 for an afternoon dive there, and Native Diving €115 for two dives, Las Coloradas and the museum, or €95 with your own kit. For someone who has never dived, Rubicon lists a day course with the museum from €175 and Dawn Dives one at €200.
Book the boat, not a ticket. The centre's Cabildo authorization, covered below, is the paper that matters on this dive.
La Graciosa from Lanzarote: a dive permit and a daily cap on dives
Lanzarote has the only marine reserve of the two. Spain's fisheries ministry lists twelve reservas marinas; the Canary ones are Isla Graciosa, La Restinga and Isla de La Palma, so Tenerife has none. The reserve around La Graciosa and the islets north of Lanzarote covers 70,700 hectares and was created in 1995.
Scuba diving there is allowed outside the integral reserve, with prior authorization: from the state's fisheries office in outer waters and from the Canary government's fisheries department in inner waters. The founding order adds that divers may not carry any instrument that could be used for fishing, in the hand or on the boat. Then come the daily caps, per zone:
| Zone | Boats a day | Dives a day, high season (weekday / weekend) | Dives a day, low season (weekday / weekend) |
|---|---|---|---|
| La Graciosa | 5 | 30 / 48 | 12 / 24 |
| Alegranza | 3 | 24 / 36 | 12 / 12 |
| Montaña Clara | 3 | 12 / 24 | 12 / 12 |
| Roque del Oeste | 2 | 12 / 12 | 12 / 12 |
| North coast of Lanzarote | 3 | 12 / 24 | 12 / 12 |
As published by the Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación for the reserve. Low season runs from January to May except the Easter holidays; high season from June to December, plus Easter. Weekend includes public holidays.
Twelve dives a day at Roque del Oeste is a small number. Book a reserve trip through a centre that holds the authorization, and book it early in high season.
One Canary decree, two Cabildos: who licenses a dive centre on Lanzarote and on Tenerife
The same regional law governs dive centres on both islands, but the paper comes from each island's own government. Under Decreto 35/2006 a dive centre needs an administrative authorization "expedida por los Cabildos Insulares", issued by the island councils, and the Cabildos may inspect the centres they authorize. On Lanzarote that is the Cabildo de Lanzarote, on Tenerife the Cabildo de Tenerife.
The conditions are the same. The technical director must hold the sports-technician title in underwater activities, the centre needs civil liability insurance, and its emergency plan must guarantee a hyperbaric chamber close enough for a transfer of two hours at most from the dive site, with first aid, normobaric oxygen and medical staff of its own or under contract. The plan names the chamber and attaches the title to use it.
Three details are worth asking about on either island. The authorization states the maximum number of users and the name and registration of each support boat. It must hang in the centre "en lugar preferente y perfectamente visible". And the decree tells the centre to check that each user has "certificado médico oficial de aptitud física", an official medical certificate of fitness. Ask what the centre accepts as one before you fly.
Lanzarote vs Tenerife water temperature: Lanzarote runs about a degree colder
On water, Lanzarote vs Tenerife has a clear loser. NOAA's satellite sea surface temperature, averaged by month for two cells off each island:
| Month | Lanzarote south-east (Puerto del Carmen) | Lanzarote north-west (Famara) | Tenerife south | Tenerife west |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 19.8 °C | 19.9 °C | 20.6 °C | 20.8 °C |
| February | 19.2 °C | 19.3 °C | 20.2 °C | 20.3 °C |
| March | 18.9 °C | 19.0 °C | 20.1 °C | 20.2 °C |
| April | 19.6 °C | 19.6 °C | 20.4 °C | 20.5 °C |
| May | 20.3 °C | 20.2 °C | 21.1 °C | 21.2 °C |
| June | 21.3 °C | 21.3 °C | 22.0 °C | 22.1 °C |
| July | 22.1 °C | 22.0 °C | 22.6 °C | 22.8 °C |
| August | 22.7 °C | 22.8 °C | 23.5 °C | 23.6 °C |
| September | 23.1 °C | 23.2 °C | 24.1 °C | 24.3 °C |
| October | 23.0 °C | 23.1 °C | 24.1 °C | 24.2 °C |
| November | 22.2 °C | 22.3 °C | 23.2 °C | 23.3 °C |
| December | 20.8 °C | 20.9 °C | 21.8 °C | 21.9 °C |
Means of NOAA's Optimum Interpolation sea surface temperature, version 2.1, from the monthly file sst.mon.mean.nc at NOAA PSL, January 2021 to December 2025, for the quarter-degree cells centered at 28.875° N 13.625° W, 29.125° N 13.625° W, 27.875° N 16.625° W and 28.125° N 16.875° W.
Tenerife's south runs 0.5 to 1.1 °C warmer than Lanzarote's south-east in every month. The gap is smallest in July and largest in March and October. March is the coldest month on both islands, at 18.9 °C off Puerto del Carmen and 20.1 °C off Tenerife's south. The two Lanzarote cells are within a tenth or two of each other all year, so Famara and the dive coast share the same water.
The reason is on the map. The angelshark paper notes that the eastern islands are regularly influenced by cooler water from the seasonal upwelling off the African coast, and the ministry's summary for the sea east of Lanzarote describes filaments of cold water arriving from the same upwelling. A 25 km cell cannot show a single bay, but the direction of the gap is consistent.
Famara vs El Médano: wind by month on Lanzarote and Tenerife
Here the two islands are far apart. The model cell at Famara and the cell off El Médano give this year:
| Month | Famara cell: mean | Famara: hours at 12 kn+ / 16 kn+ | El Médano cell: mean | El Médano: hours at 12 kn+ / 16 kn+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 9.2 kn | 26% / 6% | 14.6 kn | 57% / 44% |
| February | 9.7 kn | 29% / 8% | 13.1 kn | 52% / 35% |
| March | 10.3 kn | 35% / 13% | 12.8 kn | 46% / 35% |
| April | 10.5 kn | 36% / 10% | 12.9 kn | 47% / 33% |
| May | 11.3 kn | 49% / 7% | 13.9 kn | 55% / 40% |
| June | 11.2 kn | 47% / 4% | 12.7 kn | 51% / 32% |
| July | 12.5 kn | 61% / 11% | 15.8 kn | 73% / 52% |
| August | 11.4 kn | 48% / 6% | 16.2 kn | 72% / 55% |
| September | 10.2 kn | 33% / 6% | 14.7 kn | 62% / 46% |
| October | 8.6 kn | 21% / 2% | 12.2 kn | 47% / 33% |
| November | 8.8 kn | 21% / 4% | 12.9 kn | 52% / 34% |
| December | 9.5 kn | 30% / 8% | 13.6 kn | 53% / 38% |
Calculated for this page from ECMWF's IFS model at about 9 km, hourly wind at 10 m, January 2023 to December 2025, read through Open-Meteo's historical API. The Famara cell is centered at 29.14° N, 13.55° W, on the coast by Famara beach; the El Médano cell at 27.94° N, 16.54° W, open sea about 11 km south of the beach. Each month holds 2,040 to 2,232 model hours.
Across the three years the Famara cell averages 10.3 knots and has 16 knots or more in 7% of hours; the El Médano cell averages 13.8 knots and reaches 16 knots in 40%. The Famara wind comes from around north, swinging to north-east in winter; the El Médano wind from the north-east. Lanzarote's other wind cell, off Costa Teguise at 29.00° N 13.52° W, does better in high summer, with 16 knots or more in 27% of July hours, and falls back to 3% in October and December.
Years differ more at El Médano than the means suggest: July had 16 knots or more in 69% of hours in 2023, 48% in 2024 and 39% in 2025. At Famara the same share was 17%, 8% and 8%. A 9 km cell also smooths out the way terrain bends and speeds the trade wind, and the Famara cell sits on the coast while the El Médano cell lies over open sea, so read the table for the shape of the year rather than the strength at a launch.
The kite registers point the same way. All four IKO schools on our Tenerife list are filed at El Médano, with a VDWS windsurf station there too; the Lanzarote list has one IKO school, filed in Tías. Turismo Lanzarote names the beach of Las Cucharas in Costa Teguise as the meeting point of the island's windsurfers, with schools for all levels.
Winter swell on Lanzarote's Famara coast and Tenerife's north, year by year
For surf the picture flips: Lanzarote vs Tenerife is a near tie. Both north coasts face the same north-west winter swell, and the wave model gives them almost the same numbers. Split by year, it also shows that the winter you pick matters more than the island:
| Month | Off Famara, 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | Off Tenerife's north, 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | 1.74 m, 34% | 1.97 m, 48% | 1.46 m, 12% | 1.73 m, 31% | 1.90 m, 42% | 1.42 m, 10% |
| November | 2.03 m, 35% | 1.47 m, 13% | 2.05 m, 53% | 1.92 m, 35% | 1.54 m, 14% | 2.02 m, 48% |
| December | 1.73 m, 31% | 1.73 m, 26% | 2.70 m, 79% | 1.76 m, 30% | 1.79 m, 26% | 2.61 m, 70% |
| January | 2.16 m, 57% | 1.94 m, 40% | 2.25 m, 63% | 2.14 m, 59% | 2.01 m, 52% | 2.20 m, 62% |
| February | 1.75 m, 21% | 2.28 m, 55% | 2.29 m, 60% | 1.80 m, 25% | 2.16 m, 49% | 2.34 m, 63% |
| March | 2.20 m, 64% | 2.71 m, 78% | 2.56 m, 65% | 2.24 m, 69% | 2.62 m, 77% | 2.50 m, 64% |
Monthly mean significant wave height and the share of model hours at 2 m or more, calculated for this page from Météo-France's MFWAM model for Copernicus Marine, 1/12° (about 9 km), each calendar year 2023, 2024 and 2025 taken separately, for the open-sea cells centered at 29.17° N 13.75° W (about 20 km west-north-west of Famara beach) and 28.67° N 16.33° W (north of Anaga). Shares of hours are shares of the model's three-hourly steps.
December 2025 put 2 m or more off Famara in 79% of hours; December 2024 managed 26%. Swell periods average about 10 seconds from December to February and about 6 in July, when the sea on both north coasts is short, wind-made chop of 1.5 to 1.7 m. The south coasts tell the other half: the cell off Puerto del Carmen averages 0.78 m over the year, the cell off Tenerife's south-west 1.13 m, and Turespaña names Las Américas beach in Arona as the stage for several international events.
Where the waves break is a matter for the tourism boards. Turismo Lanzarote places Famara beach and the village of La Caleta in Teguise, inside the Chinijo Archipelago natural park, and La Santa in Tinajo, home of El Quemao and its left, where the Quemao Class competition has been held for years. Turespaña counts over 20 surf spots on Tenerife, calls Almáciga in Santa Cruz suited to a range of skill levels, says Punta Blanca in Guía de Isora demands refined technique, and notes that no special permit is required to surf there.
Getting around Lanzarote and Tenerife without a car
AENA counted 8.9 million passengers at César Manrique-Lanzarote in 2025, against 14.0 million at Tenerife South and 7.2 million at Tenerife North. Both islands work by bus for the dive coast. The surf coast is where they part.
Lanzarote: AENA lists five bus lines at the airport. Line 161 runs to Puerto del Carmen, Puerto Calero, Yaiza and Playa Blanca about every 30 to 60 minutes, from 7:30 to 21:30 towards Playa Blanca. Line 22 reaches Arrecife in 10 minutes, Monday to Friday, about every 40 to 50 minutes. None of the five names Famara or Costa Teguise. Turismo Lanzarote says line 20 links La Caleta de Famara with Arrecife from Monday to Friday, and points to the public network's site, arrecifebus.com, for times.
Tenerife: TITSA's timetable data for Wednesday 28 October 2026 show 40 buses from Tenerife South airport to Los Cristianos, 18 to 30 minutes each, on lines 40 and 711. The north coast is reachable too: line 946 makes 8 trips from the Santa Cruz interchange to Almáciga, 44 to 57 minutes. El Médano is a change at San Isidro.
Between them the sea is slow. The ferry line at navieraarmas.com, now branded Baleària Canarias, gives Tenerife to Lanzarote as about 8 hours and 15 minutes including the change in Gran Canaria, from €41. Fred. Olsen's timetable data for 23 October 2026 to 30 May 2027 schedule no sailing from Arrecife at all; its Lanzarote route is Playa Blanca to Corralejo, 13 crossings each way on 28 October, 24 to 35 minutes. That is the hop in our Fuerteventura vs Lanzarote comparison.
Remote work from Lanzarote or Tenerife: a fibre gap in the resort towns
Spain's telecoms ministry publishes coverage by municipality, measured in June 2025. On this axis Lanzarote vs Tenerife is not close outside Arrecife:
| Municipality | Base for | Households with FTTH | Households with 1 Gbps |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arrecife | Lanzarote's capital | 97.3% | 98.0% |
| Tías | Puerto del Carmen | 88.8% | 87.8% |
| Teguise | Famara, Costa Teguise | 88.8% | 87.3% |
| Yaiza | Playa Blanca | 85.3% | 85.3% |
| Tinajo | La Santa | 80.2% | 71.9% |
| Arona | Los Cristianos, Las Galletas | 97.1% | 95.5% |
| Adeje | Costa Adeje | 96.9% | 94.0% |
| Santa Cruz de Tenerife | The capital, Almáciga | 97.1% | 96.5% |
Roughly one household in nine in Lanzarote's two main dive and surf municipalities has no fibre reaching it. Coverage still says nothing about a given flat, so ask the host for a speed test before you pay.
The paperwork is identical, because both islands are Spain. For non-EU visitors the European Commission's rule is a stay "of up to 90 days in any 180-day period", counted across all 29 Schengen countries. For longer, Spain's teleworker visa asks for income of 200% of the minimum wage (SMI) a month, plus 75% of the SMI for the first family member and 25% for each further one; Real Decreto 126/2026 sets the 2026 SMI at €1,221 a month. Our Spain teleworker visa guide has the full conditions.
The Lanzarote and Tenerife operator lists: 21 businesses against 28
Our two lists are built from training-body registers and the Green Fins scheme, so they count who those bodies list, not who is good.
| Lanzarote | Tenerife | |
|---|---|---|
| Businesses listed | 21 | 28 |
| Listed for scuba diving | 20 | 24 |
| Kite schools (IKO) | 1, Tías | 4, all at El Médano |
| Windsurf stations (VDWS) | 0 | 1, El Médano |
| In the SSI, IKO or VDWS register | 21 | 26 |
| Green Fins members | 0 | 2 |
| Rated by SSI for freediving | 4 | 8 |
| Publish a website | 20 | 22 |
The Lanzarote list was compiled on 20 September 2026 and the Tenerife list on 21 September 2026. Lanzarote's 20 dive centres are filed in Puerto del Carmen (6), Playa Blanca (6), Costa Teguise (5), Teguise, Puerto Calero and Yaiza. Neither list carries a surf school. Both Tenerife Green Fins members are digital members, which means a self-evaluation. None of these listings is the Cabildo's authorization under Decreto 35/2006, so the paper on the wall is still the one to read.
Lanzarote vs Tenerife in five lines
- Shore diving: Lanzarote, where Puerto del Carmen sits on the calmest of the four coasts in the wave model.
- Warmer water: Tenerife, by 0.5 to 1.1 °C in every month; March is 18.9 °C off Puerto del Carmen.
- Wind: Tenerife. Off El Médano the model has 16 knots or more in 40% of hours, at Famara in 7%.
- Winter surf: a tie on the numbers; both north coasts average 2.12 m in January.
- Museo Atlántico: book a dive centre's boat; CACT sells no ticket for it.
Pick Lanzarote for walk-in dives and Famara's winter, Tenerife for warm water, whales and wind
Pick Lanzarote if your month is about diving from the beach at Puerto del Carmen, angelsharks and seahorses on a small protected coast, a permit trip to La Graciosa, and a winter of north-west swell at Famara or La Santa. Do not pick it for kiting outside high summer, or if your work needs fibre in a resort flat without checking first.
Pick Tenerife if you want water a degree warmer, a resident pilot whale population on the dive coast, wind at El Médano in every month and buses that reach the north-coast surf. Do not pick it for water as sheltered as Puerto del Carmen's, or for a marine reserve.
If Lanzarote vs Tenerife is not quite your question, read Gran Canaria vs Tenerife for the windier summer on the next island, or our Lanzarote surf-and-wind base and Tenerife guide for nomads who dive for daily life. Before either, check that your dive insurance pays for a transfer to a chamber.
FAQ: Lanzarote vs Tenerife
Is Lanzarote or Tenerife better for diving?
For shore diving, Lanzarote: the wave model puts the sea off Puerto del Carmen at 0.78 m a year, and the seahorses and angelsharks of ZEC Cagafrecho are a swim from the beach. Tenerife has 24 dive businesses on our list against 20, water 0.5 to 1.1 °C warmer and resident pilot whales off the Teno-Rasca coast.
Is the sea warmer in Tenerife or Lanzarote?
Tenerife, by 0.5 to 1.1 °C in every month in NOAA satellite data for 2021 to 2025. March is the coldest month on both islands, at 18.9 °C off Puerto del Carmen and 20.1 °C off Tenerife's south. September is the warmest, at 23.1 and 24.1 °C.
Can you still dive the Museo Atlántico in Lanzarote?
Yes, on a dive centre's boat out of Playa Blanca. The Cabildo announced a reopening as a museum in January 2024 and SPEL took the project on in July 2024, but CACT's ticket shop sells no ticket for it. Dawn Dives charges €60 for the boat dive and Rubicon Diving from €65.
Is Lanzarote or Tenerife better for windsurfing and kitesurfing?
Tenerife. In model data for 2023 to 2025 the sea off El Médano has 16 knots or more in 40% of hours, the Famara cell on Lanzarote in 7%. Lanzarote's best is July off Costa Teguise, with 16 knots in 27% of hours. All four IKO kite schools on our Tenerife list are at El Médano.
Is there a ferry from Lanzarote to Tenerife?
Yes, but it is slow: Baleària Canarias gives Tenerife to Lanzarote as about 8 hours and 15 minutes including the change in Gran Canaria, from €41. Fred. Olsen's timetable data to May 2027 schedule no sailing from Arrecife; its Lanzarote route is Playa Blanca to Corralejo on Fuerteventura.
Do you need a permit to dive La Graciosa from Lanzarote?
Yes. Outside the integral reserve, scuba diving in the La Graciosa marine reserve needs prior authorization, and divers may carry nothing usable for fishing. Each zone has a daily cap: around La Graciosa, five boats and 30 dives on a high-season weekday, 48 at weekends. Low season runs from January to May, except Easter.
Sources
- Sea surface temperature. NOAA OISST v2.1, monthly means file sst.mon.mean.nc on NOAA PSL's THREDDS server, quarter-degree cells at 28.875° N 13.625° W, 29.125° N 13.625° W, 27.875° N 16.625° W and 28.125° N 16.875° W, January 2021 to December 2025 (60 months, none missing), read on 27 October 2026 and averaged by calendar month for this page. NCEI's ERDDAP copy of OISST no longer answers. NOAA PSL, NCEI product page
- Sea state. Météo-France MFWAM global wave model, Copernicus Marine product GLOBAL_ANALYSISFORECAST_WAV_001_027 (1/12°, about 0.083°, three-hourly values, no interpolation), significant wave height and swell period, each calendar year 2023, 2024 and 2025 taken separately, 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2025, read from Copernicus Marine on 2 November 2026 for the cells centered at 29.17° N 13.75° W, 28.83° N 13.67° W, 28.67° N 16.33° W and 28.00° N 16.83° W, 8,768 three-hourly values each. Monthly means and shares of hours are calculated for this page. Shares of hours are shares of the model's three-hourly steps. Generated using E.U. Copernicus Marine Service Information; https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00017. Copernicus Marine
- Wind. ECMWF IFS at about 9 km, hourly wind speed and direction at 10 m, 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2025, read through Open-Meteo's historical weather API on 27 October 2026 for the cells at 29.14° N 13.55° W (Famara), 29.00° N 13.52° W (Costa Teguise) and 27.94° N 16.54° W (El Médano), 26,304 hourly values each. Monthly means, speed-weighted mean directions and shares of hours at 12 and 16 knots or more are calculated for this page. Open-Meteo, ECMWF
- The protected sites. Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica y el Reto Demográfico: ZEC ES7011002 Cagafrecho, 633.17 ha, "baña la costa del municipio de Tías"; ZEC ES7010021 Sebadales de Guasimeta, 1,276.05 ha off Arrecife, San Bartolomé and Tías; ZEC ES7020017 Franja marina de Teno-Rasca, 69,489.68 ha off five municipalities; all ZEC since September 2011. Read 27 October 2026. ES7011002, ES7010021, ES7020017
- Punta Tiñosa moorings. MITECO, public information on the "Proyecto de obra para la instalación de sistemas de fondeo de bajo impacto en la zona de Punta Tiñosa (Lanzarote)", LIFE IP INTEMARES, June 2025, open for comment 9 July to 7 August 2025: Punta Tiñosa "parte de la ZEC Cagafrecho (ES7011002)"; 19 moorings found, two too deep to film; moorings T5, T6, T8 and T9 "dedicados a las prácticas de buceo" that "albergan comunidades de fauna protegida (Caballitos de mar 'Hippocampus hippocampus')", where only the buoy is replaced; the ZEC's coastal strip "identificada como área crítica de angelote". Read 27 October 2026. miteco.gob.es, project (PDF, 136 MB)
- Puerto del Carmen and La Tiñosa in Tías. Turismo Lanzarote, "Tías, la tierra que enamoró al Nobel" (Puerto del Carmen and "la zona de la Tiñosa" with its harbour). Read 27 October 2026. turismolanzarote.com
- Angelsharks. Meyers, Tuya, Barker, Jiménez Alvarado, Castro-Hernández, Haroun and Rödder, "Population structure, distribution and habitat use of the Critically Endangered Angelshark, Squatina squatina, in the Canary Islands", Aquatic Conservation (2017): 678 sightings from April 2014 to March 2015 from 22 dive centres, six on Lanzarote and two on Tenerife; high sighting frequency at Las Teresitas, Sardina del Norte, El Cabrón and Puerto del Carmen; 36 of 69 neonates on Tenerife; "Another possible nursery area was identified in Lanzarote, where 21 neonates were reported"; the eastern islands "regularly influenced by cooler sea water". Read 27 October 2026. Full text (PDF)
- Pilot whales in Teno-Rasca. Dirección General de Biodiversidad, Bosques y Desertificación, communication of 26 September 2023: a resident population, "sólo se conocen otras poblaciones residentes en Japón, Madeira, California y Hawaii"; the zone "con mayor oferta de actividad recreativa de observación de cetáceos de todas las islas Canarias"; the moratorium. Read 27 October 2026. miteco.gob.es (PDF)
- The 60-metre rule. Real Decreto 1727/2007, article 2 (500 m protection space; exclusion zone "no inferior a 60 metros") and article 4.2.f ("Bañarse o bucear en la Zona de Exclusión"). Read 26 October 2026 for the sibling page and unchanged. BOE-A-2008-516
- Cetaceans east of Lanzarote. MITECO, summary report for the proposed site ESZZ15002 Espacio marino del oriente y sur de Lanzarote-Fuerteventura: "28 especies de cetáceos registrados"; a resident population of bottlenose dolphins; "Cinco de los 8 varamientos multiespecíficos de zifios que se conocen en el mundo han tenido lugar en el área"; seamounts El Banquete and Amanay; cold-water filaments from the African upwelling. Read 27 October 2026. miteco.gob.es (PDF)
- Museo Atlántico. Turismo Lanzarote corporate news, 10 January 2024: the Cabildo's intention to reopen, 12 to 14 m, ten groups, the working group with SPEL and the artist "para definir un modelo y establecer un cronograma para la apertura del Museo"; RTVC/EFE, 10 January 2024: "El museo, que se cerró en 2020"; SPEL, Resumen informativo, July 2024: the 3 July meeting with the Federación Turística de Lanzarote, BUCO and the Clúster Marítimo de Canarias, "hemos asumido la responsabilidad de este emocionante proyecto", the diagnosis phase; CACT online shop, tickets and vouchers, six centres. All read 27 October 2026. turismolanzarote.com, rtvc.es, SPEL, July 2024, CACT shop
- Museum dive prices, each centre's own page, read 27 October 2026: Dawn Dives (Museo Atlántico boat dive €60, mini course with the museum €200); Rubicon Diving (afternoon dive from €65, Day at the Museum from €175); Native Diving (two dives €115, €95 with own equipment). dawndiveslanzarote.com, rubicondiving.com, nativediving.com
- La Graciosa marine reserve. Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación, Isla Graciosa e Islotes del norte de Lanzarote, characteristics: 70,700 ha, created 1995; diving with prior authorization in outer and inner waters; the daily caps per zone and the seasons. Orden de 19 de mayo de 1995, article 6: "previa autorización expresa"; divers carry no instrument usable for fishing. The list of twelve reservas marinas. All read 27 October 2026. mapa.gob.es, BOE-A-1995-13433, list
- The dive-centre decree. Decreto 35/2006, de 25 de abril, BOC 86 of 5 May 2006: article 4 (authorization "expedida por los Cabildos Insulares"; technical director, insurance, emergency plan), article 5.1.j (chamber within "un tiempo máximo de dos horas desde el lugar de la inmersión"), 5.3 (maximum users, support boats in the resolution), 5.5 (display), article 6 ("certificado médico oficial de aptitud física"), article 7 (inspection by the Cabildos), article 15 (register). Read 27 October 2026 in the text published by the Parlamento de Canarias. parcan.es (PDF)
- Surf spots. Turismo Lanzarote, "Tierra, mar y aire" (Famara and La Caleta in Teguise inside the Chinijo park; La Santa in Tinajo and El Quemao's "mítica Izquierda"; Las Cucharas in Costa Teguise, "escuelas para todos los niveles") and "Tinajo, una incursión en el sobrecogedor mundo de lava" (the Quemao Class). Turespaña, "Tenerife establishes itself as a European surf paradise" (over 20 surf spots, Almáciga, Punta Blanca, "No special permit is required"). All read 27 October 2026. turismolanzarote.com, Tinajo, tourspain.es
- Airports and airport buses. AENA press release of 13 January 2026: César Manrique-Lanzarote 8,920,901 passengers in 2025, Tenerife Sur 13,969,678, Tenerife Norte 7,174,977. AENA's bus page for Lanzarote airport (lines 22, 23, 61, 161 and 162). Both read 27 October 2026. aena.es (PDF), Lanzarote airport buses
- Line 20 to Famara. Turismo Lanzarote, "Lanzarote sin coche" (August 2025): "la línea 20 de guagua, que conecta el pueblo con Arrecife de lunes a viernes". Read 27 October 2026. The network's site, arrecifebus.com, did not answer that day. turismolanzarote.com
- Tenerife buses. TITSA timetable data in GTFS, files dated 13 October 2026, counted for Wednesday 28 October 2026. Read 27 October 2026 from the Mobility Database copy of TITSA's feed. feed (ZIP)
- Ferries. Baleària Canarias (navieraarmas.com redirects there), Ferry to Lanzarote: Tenerife to Lanzarote "approximately 8 hours and 15 minutes, including the transfer in Gran Canaria", from €41. Fred. Olsen Express timetable data from Spain's National Access Point, files dated 25 October 2026, service 23 October 2026 to 30 May 2027. Both read 27 October 2026. Baleària Canarias, Fred. Olsen feed (ZIP)
- Broadband coverage. Secretaría de Estado de Telecomunicaciones e Infraestructuras Digitales, coverage data 2021 to 2025 by municipality (sheet Municipio_%hogar, FTTH and 1 Gbps under maximum demand, June 2025). Read 27 October 2026. digital.gob.es
- Schengen short stays. European Commission, Migration and Home Affairs: "up to 90 days in any 180-day period", 29 Schengen countries. Read 27 October 2026. home-affairs.ec.europa.eu
- Spain's teleworker visa. Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores: "200% of the minimum wage (SMI) per month", 75% for the first family member and 25% for each additional one. Real Decreto 126/2026: "1 221 euros/mes" for 2026. Both read 27 October 2026. exteriores.gob.es, BOE-A-2026-3815
- SSI, IKO and VDWS registers and the Green Fins member register, for the businesses on both lists. divessi.com, ikointl.com, vdws.de
- Counted from the operator lists: Lanzarote compiled 20 September 2026 and Tenerife compiled 21 September 2026.