On the beautiful coast of Costa Teguise lies the placid bay of Playa Jablillo where the sight of men clad in black rubber is common and where the colourful fish form a wall to quote Gareth. For anyone who has never tried diving before, it’s the ideal environment in which to lose your dive virginity and experience the sensational world that lies beneath the waves.

But before you take your lungs to a place they don’t naturally respond well to being in, it’s important to know that you’re going to be in safe hands. So Sands Beach Resort decided to catch up with the expert team at our partners in Calipso Diving and find out who are the men behind the masks.

“I have no idea how many dives I’ve done – a lot!” Gareth laughs as he declines to make any kind of guesstimate of how many times he’s hoisted his air supply onto his back and slipped beneath the surface of the water. When you’ve been diving as long as Gareth, time spent undersea is incalculable.

As he checks out if we have any medical conditions that may affect our ability to dive and asks us to complete a self medical certification form, we ask Gareth about his diving career to date.
“I was Ships Diver for the Royal Navy,” he tells us. “I came out of the navy in 1997 and qualified as an instructor in 1999. I’ve been training people in diving ever since.”
Originally from Barmouth in Wales, Gareth is both BSAC and PADI accredited and is currently working towards his qualification to train diving instructors.

After our safety video, Gareth spends time going over the essentials of safety with us. His style is easy, confident and very funny which means that we easily take on board vital lessons we need to learn before he lets us anywhere near water. Once we’re suited and booted we head out to Playa Jablillo where Gareth takes us through our paces in the shallows at the edge of the bay until he’s confident that we’re ready. Then we’re off to deeper waters to discover new worlds under the watchful eye of our expert guide.

Now in his twelfth year on Lanzarote, we ask Gareth what it is about the island that keeps him diving here. “With the warm water temperature and generally excellent visibility, Lanzarote’s a great place to dive all year… and it’s affordable,” he tells us. We couldn’t agree more

Sands Beach Resort will be happy to arrange your dive with Calipso Diving.

When you touch down on a sun-kissed holiday island like Lanzarote it can be tempting to dump the luggage in your Lanzarote hotel, slip into the swimwear, slap on some suntan lotion, get prone on a beach and let that big golden orb in the sky kiss your sun-starved body for the rest of your holiday.

If the place you’re soaking up the sun is on the golden shores of the Sands Beach Resort lagoon then tearing yourself away from the sun’s clutches is even more difficult. But if you don’t you might be missing out on one of the most exhilarating holiday experiences you’re likely to have anywhere… and that’s becoming acquainted with Lanzarote’s undersea world.

With body friendly sea temperatures and an abundance of marine life, the waters around Lanzarote draw experienced scuba divers all year round. Given the current political crisis in Tunisia and Egypt, it’s also one of the few locations where divers can currently enjoy excellent diving conditions in winter within a few hour’s flying time from Britain

There’s no need to be an experienced scuba diver to get up close and personal with Lanzarote’s marine life. The expert team at Calipso Diving (BSAC Centre of Excellence and PADI Resort Centre) offer a Discover Scuba course which prepares beginners for their first steps into the big blue. The half day course in Costa Teguise includes thorough preparation and tuition so that beginners know exactly what the drill is when they slip below those invitingly blue waters at Playa Jablillo.

However, no amount of prep can prepare first-timers for that ‘WOW’ feeling that comes from entering this magical undersea kingdom. Even on an introductory dive you’ll be surrounded by brightly coloured fish and may also meet starfish, spider crabs, cuttlefish and possibly even an angel shark. It is quite simply an incredible experience and once tried never forgotten.

Reclining on a sunbed will seem pretty tame afterwards…but no worries, Calipso Diving have follow-up scuba diving courses that are just perfect for another undersea adventure.