El Salto / Los Saltos (marine reserve)
Marine-reserve site – diving only with a licensed centre under the reserve permit. The lava tongue of Punta del Salto continues under the sea; one route drops along a wall to about 40 m, the other passes through a shallow half-tube with large openings and three small grottoes lit through natural windows, then returns through an arch. Motionless schools of trumpetfish hang in the water here.
Facts
- Region: Canary Islands – West
- Area: El Hierro – La Restinga & Mar de las Calmas
- Depth: 6–40 m
- Level: intermediate
- Current: moderate
- Type: cave, wall
- Coordinates: 27.6372, -17.9875 (approximate)
- Highlights: lava tongue continuing under water, three small grottoes, half-tube with light windows, trumpetfish schools, arch
- Permit: Marine reserve (Punta de la Restinga – Mar de las Calmas): recreational diving only with an authorisation. For outer waters the MAPA Directorate-General for Sustainable Fisheries grants it, per calendar year to dive centres and per month to individuals, up to a limited daily quota of dives and boats. Divers need a recognised certification and a valid medical certificate, boats may be at most 10 m long, and each mooring buoy takes one boat with at most 12 divers. In practice dive with a licensed local centre. Check current rules with the La Restinga visitor centre.
- Issuer / contact: Secretaría General de Pesca (MAPA) – Reserva Marina Punta de la Restinga–Mar de las Calmas
- Phone: +34 922 557 188
- Email: reservasmarinas@mapa.es
- Website: https://www.mapa.gob.es/es/pesca/temas/proteccion-recursos-pesqueros/reservas-marinas-de-espana/la-restinga/informacion-de-interes
- Tips: Grottoes are short and lit through windows; do not penetrate beyond the light. Position approximate (off the lava tongue).