El Bajon
Depth is the range from the top of the site to its usual maximum; "recommended cert" is the mainstream-agency level operators usually ask for, not a legal rule. Currents and visibility change daily — treat everything here as planning ranges.
El Bajon is the Canaries' most famous single dive: a saddle-backed volcanic pinnacle off La Restinga whose twin peaks climb from deep blue to near-snorkel depth. The rock is ringed by life that reserve protection has let grow old — dusky groupers of real size, island groupers, thick schools of amberjack and barracuda wheeling off the towers, morays in every crack. In the warm months something bigger often passes: mobulas, tuna, occasionally a whale shark. Water clarity in the Mar de las Calmas routinely embarrasses the rest of Europe.
The moment you come for: Twin towers in blue water, large groupers, summer pelagic fly-bys
Topography: Twin volcanic towers rising from deep water to within about 8 m of the surface
Current: An open-water pinnacle — current can pick up mid-dive and dives are planned around it.
Entry: Short boat ride from La Restinga, El Hierro, inside the Mar de las Calmas marine reserve; dived when current allows.
Know before you splash
Hazards: Current and open-water exposure; the summit tempts divers upward while the walls tempt them past plan depth.
Permits & rules: Daily boat and diver management applies within the reserve — book through local operators.
Conservation: Inside the Mar de las Calmas reserve; diving runs through authorized La Restinga centers under reserve rules.
Nitrox: Worth it here — profiles sit in the range where enriched air meaningfully extends no-stop time (with the training to use it).
Who you'll meet
For photographers
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