You do not need a qualification to dive in Gran Canaria. A beginner books a try dive: a briefing, a few skills in shallow water, then a guided shore dive to 6 to 8 metres with a PADI instructor beside you. The best-reviewed option is a 3-hour session from ~€89 per person with hotel pickup from the southern resorts, open to anyone aged 10 and over who is healthy enough to complete a medical form.
Gran Canaria: Try Scuba Diving for Beginners
A half-day first dive with Puerto Rico Diving: hotel pickup, a briefing with a PADI instructor, shallow-water practice and a guided dive at the best site for the day's conditions.
- Dive equipment and diving accident insurance included
- Pickup from Maspalomas to Puerto de Mogán
- Instructors in English, Spanish, French and Italian
A try dive is not a course, and that is the point
A PADI Open Water course is a multi-day programme with theory and assessments, and it leaves you with a certification for life. Puerto Rico Diving, the operator behind this try dive, runs it over 3 days, from €455.
A try dive is one guided experience with no study, no exams and no certification at the end. It exists to answer one question: do you enjoy breathing underwater? If the answer is yes, the course is the next step. If you are not sure, the course is an expensive way to find out.
What the try dive gives you on holiday is the part that matters: a proper briefing, practice in shallow water, and a real open-water dive with an instructor close enough to reach.
What happens on the day?
The 3 hours include getting there and back. The GetYourGuide itinerary breaks it down like this:
- Pickup (about 30 minutes): from your hotel on the south coast; the 09:00 slot collects from about 08:15, the 12:00 slot from about 11:15
- Briefing (about 30 minutes): equipment, breathing underwater, hand signals and safety
- Dive (about 1 hour): skills practice in shallow water, then the guided dive
- Return (about 30 minutes): back to your hotel
The dive site changes day to day. The operator picks a sheltered shore site on the south coast based on sea and weather conditions, with an easy sandy entry, rather than committing to one place in advance. If you would rather meet the team at the site, the listing says to expect about 2 hours instead of 3.
First-time divers go to a comfortable 6 to 8 metres, according to Puerto Rico Diving, deep enough for reef fish, octopus and cuttlefish. The GetYourGuide listing adds parrotfish, trumpetfish, stingrays and barracuda to the list of what you might see.
Is it safe if you are nervous?
The operator's own answer is that its try dives are led only by PADI instructors, not divemasters, with a maximum of 4 participants per instructor. The shallow-water practice at the start is there to build confidence before you go deeper.
Reviews from the past year praise patient guides and clear briefings. The one recurring suggestion is that nervous beginners would benefit from an even slower start, so if you are anxious, say so at the briefing. On the GetYourGuide booking the whole group is limited to 8 participants.
Who can do a try dive in Gran Canaria?
- Age: 10 and over; Puerto Rico Diving runs a separate PADI Bubblemaker session for children aged 8 and 9, to a maximum of 2 metres
- Swimming: the listing marks it as unsuitable for non-swimmers
- Not suitable for: pregnant women and people with back, heart or respiratory problems, epilepsy, diabetes, high blood pressure, recent surgery or other pre-existing conditions
- Bring: passport or ID card, swimwear, a towel and a change of clothes
Do not book a dive for the day you fly home. The listing says to wait 12 hours between a single dive and flying, and 18 hours after multiple dives, so put your try dive early in the holiday.
What does it cost, and what is included?
The try dive costs from ~€89 per person on GetYourGuide as of September 2026, which matches Puerto Rico Diving's own starting price.
- Included: hotel pickup and drop-off from southern coastal towns, all dive equipment, and diving accident insurance
- Extra: GoPro rental at €20 per camera
- Pickup area: Maspalomas, Playa del Inglés, Arguineguín, Patalavaca, Puerto Rico, Puerto de Mogán, Taurito and nearby resorts
- Cancellation: free up to 24 hours ahead
The listing notes that if you are not staying in a coastal town between Playa del Inglés and Mogán, pickup is not included, so guests in Las Palmas or inland need to get to the site themselves.
Try dive or snorkelling: which should you book?
They are different days. Our Gran Canaria snorkelling guide covers free snorkelling from the beach at Amadores and a 4-hour guided kayak tour into sea caves near Taurito. You stay at the surface, and free beach snorkelling needs no booking, no medical form and no minimum age.
Book the try dive if you want to be underwater, not looking down at it. It is shorter, more personal and more demanding, and it is the only one of the two that tells you whether diving is for you.
Puerto Rico's harbour is also the base for faster water sports: our Gran Canaria jet ski guide and parasailing guide cover both. For the rest of the town, see our things to do in Puerto Rico guide.
FAQ – scuba diving in Gran Canaria for beginners
Not for a try dive, also called Discover Scuba Diving. It is a single guided experience with a PADI instructor, with no study, no exams and no certification at the end. The Gran Canaria: Try Scuba Diving for Beginners experience with Puerto Rico Diving needs no previous experience, but every diver completes a medical questionnaire, and some conditions require a doctor's permission first.
The Gran Canaria: Try Scuba Diving for Beginners experience costs from around €89 per person on GetYourGuide as of September 2026, the same starting price Puerto Rico Diving lists on its own website. It lasts about 3 hours including hotel pickup from the southern coastal resorts and includes all dive equipment and diving accident insurance. GoPro rental costs an extra €20.
First-time divers with Puerto Rico Diving go to a comfortable 6 to 8 metres, according to the dive centre. That is shallow enough to feel relaxed and deep enough to see reef fish, octopus and cuttlefish. The dive follows a briefing and shallow-water skills practice, and takes place at a sheltered shore site on the south coast chosen for the day's conditions.
Ten, for the full try dive with Puerto Rico Diving in Gran Canaria. The dive centre also runs a PADI Bubblemaker session for children aged 8 and 9, held in shallow, controlled water to a maximum depth of 2 metres. There is no upper age limit, but all divers must complete a medical questionnaire before diving.
At least 12 hours after a single dive and 18 hours after multiple dives, according to the Gran Canaria: Try Scuba Diving for Beginners listing. Flying too soon after diving carries a decompression risk, so book a try dive early in the holiday rather than on the day before or the day of your flight home.
It depends on what you want. Snorkelling from the beach at Playa de Amadores is free and needs no booking or medical form, and a guided kayak and snorkel tour from Taurito lasts about 4 hours. A try dive with Puerto Rico Diving takes you underwater to 6 to 8 metres with a PADI instructor, from age 10, for around €89 including hotel pickup.
Featured image: Javier Branas / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 3.0
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