The small cove of Playa Chica, just east of Playa Grande and immediately below the church plaza of Varadero, is the most popular shore dive in the Canary Islands and one of the best in Europe. Five or six dive operators run trips from the beach and from the harbour above; entry is a short surface swim from the sand. The site descends down a sloping volcanic shelf to a series of caverns, the deepest of which — the Catedral at around 30 metres — is the headline feature: a domed underwater chamber large enough for a school of barracuda to circle inside.
Marine life along the wall is varied for the Canaries: angel sharks (in winter), large groupers, octopus, moray eels, and dense shoals of sardines and bogue. The water is warm enough for a 5mm wetsuit year-round, and visibility is typically 20+ metres. Several reliable dive schools work from Puerto del Carmen — Dive College, Lava Dive and Native Diving among them — and run training courses from PADI Open Water to instructor level.