La Graciosa Diving 7: Burrera
The sea conditions and the long distance to the nearest port, Caleta del Sebo, mean that we can’t dive here very often. Today, our last day of diving in La Graciosa, we have been lucky and the conditions are unbeatable; good weather and flat sea.
This is the most northerly and farthest diving point, a trip of about 40 minutes by zodiac. From this point we have the islet of Montaña Clara right in front of us.
Montaña Clara
La Burrera is one of the few places in the archipelago where the algae are still preserved without having been devoured by the invasive diadem sea urchin. This dive spot is perhaps a reflection of what the bottoms of the Canary islands could have been more than 30 years ago.
In addition, life in this place is spectacular: a landscape of large rocks, arches and columns full of abundant life, both fauna and flora.
School of african striped grunts and salemas behind
The dive consists of diving among the rocks exploring the cavities, the tunnels and the landscape, following our dive guide, Edy.
This dive site is called ‘Burrera’ because of the large schools of african striped grunt (burrito) fish that we find abundantly in this place
Arch with school of african striped grunts
Arco con banco de burritos y mero debajo
It is an area with a lot of life: large banks of striped grunts, salemas, black seabream and bermuda sea chub.
bermuda sea chub
También meros y algunas barracudas grandes, catalufas escondidas en los huecos de roca y un peje perro que se nos acerca bastante.
Atlantic bigeye
barred hogfish
For lovers of the macro world, here you will find a paradise: nudibranchs and many purple flabellinas, crabs and other tiny life to discover and explore in the many holes in the rocks.
flabellina nudibranch
At the end of the dive, we see an adult redbanded seabream in the background. These specimens are increasingly rare to see since they are of great commercial interest due to the quality of their meat, being an important species for artisanal fishermen in the Canary Islands.
A curiosity of this species is that they are proterogynous hermaphrodites, being female first and then male.
Redbanded seabream adult male. (In adult individuals the reddish vertical bands tend to fade or disappear)
After the dive we return to Caleta del Sebo. The dives are at 9 am and at 1 pm, which gives time to rest and to do the second dive with 3 hours of surface time.
Our second dive of the day and the last of our trip will once again be Grunts (Roncadores) dive, in the River area.
Diving selfie in la Graciosa.. 😊
Very happy with the La Graciosa Diving Center, we are going to say goodbye in the afternoon. With the great surprise of receiving a club T-shirt in gratitude for all the changes in dates made due to covid pandemic and delaying our trip over and over again until the situation allowed to travel again.
Diving in La Graciosa has been a spectacular experience!
Shop and reception of La Graciosa diving center
For more information about other dive sites on the island, the diving center and the logistics of the trip, read our GUÍA DE BUCEO EN LA GRACIOSA.
