As we said the marine reserve has some very special features, for being a protected area. In the reserve of the El Hierro, it's forbidden to cast anchor, all the anchorages are by buoy, in an anchorage there can't be more than one boat with 12 divers.
In all the immersions are almost always present the same species: viejas, trumpets, green peje, medregales, abbots, grouper, bocinegros, etc ... There are some immersions where it is easier also see: bicudas, bonito, yellowfin, lobster, antennae, etc ... in these we will make special mention.
Most of the dives in the marine reserve of El Hierro are as follows: continuity of the continental shelf of the island, which is very short, since many times 300 m from the coast there is a depth of more than 200 m . This platform has a veril, like a slope, that goes towards the depth, sometimes suddenly and other times smoothly.
Here we will only talk about the immersions of the reserve, but there is the possibility of doing many more that are outside of it and of equal beauty as: Punta Restinga, El Desfiladero, El Arco, Los Corales, La Cueva de los Jureles, Baja Bocarones, Roque de Bonanza, La Caleta, etc...
Immersions inside the reserve
- El rincón: is considered an easy dive. We start at about 12m and progressively go down to 20. A natural wall follows from the dock to the high seas. It makes the way a bit separated from the wall and the way back glued to it. On the way there is sand bottom with the possibility of seeing chuchos and angelotes. We will turn around inside small caves where you can see sea locusts and tamboriles. All the way back is through a wall where there are nooks and crannies where you can put your head and the wavy days to se the waves break over our heads.
- El puerto, easy of shallow depth, is the place where the sea baptisms and night dives are made. Being a small port it enjoys an incredible cleaning of its waters. Its sandy bottom shelters mantelines and chuchos. You can get out of the inlet and look among the prisms to look for lobsters, tamboriles and all kinds of marine life.
- La Herradura: Difficulty medium-easy, due to currents. Round about 8m with a small hill that gently descends to 35 m. It goes down a little by the veril looking towards open sea with the occasional view of manta rays and bonitos. Tamboriles can also be seen. The way back is to shallow depth by a species of small canyons with the possibility to see: sea slugs, island groupers and black coral, to 12 ms of depth. Very difficult to see in the rest of the islands, but not in El Hierro.
- El Bajón:being the southernmost point of the Spanish state, it is the star dive of the El Hierro reserve. A distance of about 300 m from the coast, it is a mountainous massif with two humps, where the face that looks towards the sea falls about 80 m of vertical wall. The other four walls have a depth of about 50 m. Its situation, exposed to strong currents and depth, make it a difficult dive. There is a lot of life, especially the most common day, where you can see occasional blankets. There are also fishbanks of bicudas, bermuda chubs, and big medregales.
- Punta las Cañas, near the integral reserve (place of maximum protection), is an easy immersion where there is a small platform and veril. The departure is made by the veril to a certain depth, always looking towards open sea by the passage of Pelágicos and the return is made by the platform from about 12m.
- El Lajial, similar to the previous one but with a descent to infinity much more pronounced, that gives vertigo.
- La Cueva del Diablo, shallow depth, very easy. It goes to a kind of big cave that reminiscents the vault of a church. Part of the ceiling is missing and that adds a ray of light and a certain mysticism to the place. Giving te appeareance of being inside a large room, you have a greater sense of being part of the 3 dimensions and the flying effect.
- El Roque de Tacorón, in front of the natural pools (very common in the island of El Hierro). Tacorón is this dive where occasionally there are meetings with the famous Boba Tortoise. It goes down to a hill and turns around the famous rock.
- El Tacoron, walks through the bottom of the natural pools. Place with much life where you can see just below one of these pools a great thorny monkfish, very protected in El Hierro.
- Los Saltos. This immersion enjoys great beauty as it passes from a veril with a drop to 40m depth to pass to a shallow half pipe (with great opening to be able to leave) where the first ones will be lucky to see a bank of still trumpets , nailed to the water as if they were pictures. Three small caves are visited, passing by a small arch.
- Baja Rosario, veril where life walks endlessly through our eyes. Place where almost never are currents you will enjoy a comfortable snorkel with the view always towards open sea, that is where you can see passing the pelagics. Here it is possible to see large medregales, abbots and groupers. In this immersion you should not miss the backlight of the first hours of sunshine with volcanic hazards, it looks like the moon.
- El Desierto, being the end of the reserve is subsided by a sand tongue where there are thousands of garden eels. It has the possibility of descending by a veril where with luck we can enjoy groupers of large dimensions. The way back is made bu the slab where the boat was anchored, looking between its hole and passing through a small arch full of trumpets.
Immersions outside the reserve
- Baja Anacón
- Baja Palometa
- El río
- Hoyo de los feos
- El Coral
- Baja Bocarones
- Piedra Bermeja
- Barco Chino
- Cueva de la Arena
- Baja Fría
- Punta Restinga (The Arc)
- Punta Restinga (The Defile)
It's impossible to explain how an immersion is with all its grandeur in four words, so it's always better to see it with your own eyes