Lowest price here2.5 h
2.5 hGran Canaria: Shore Snorkeling with Pickup
★ 4.8 · 10 reviews
- 2.5 hours, Guided snorkelling from the shore
- Hotel pickup available
- Cheapest here
- Free cancellation
$39$15.60 / hour
Check availability→ Snorkelling, not scuba
Snorkelling instead of diving on Gran Canaria
Twelve listings sit on this site and four of them never put a tank on your back. They run $39 to $78, two to three hours, and three of the four name the snorkelling kit in their own description — something none of the eight dives do. This page sets the four side by side and says where snorkelling and scuba actually part company.
Quick answer
The short answer. Four of the twelve listings here are snorkelling trips: $39, $44, $51 and $78, each two to three hours. Three of the four say in writing that equipment comes with the trip. The most reviewed of them carries 449 reviews at 4.5 and is our top pick of the four. The dives are a separate product, and they start higher.
The four snorkelling trips at a glance
- Snorkelling listings here
- Four of twelvethe other eight are scuba dives
- What they cost
- $39–$78per person, on the live listings
- How long they run
- 2 to 3 hoursthe dives run 2 to 6 hours, plus a 3-day course
- Equipment named in the description
- Three of the fourno dive description on this site names any
- A guide or instructor named
- Three of the fourthe fourth does not say
- A boat named
- One of the fourone names the shore, two name neither
- Reviews behind the four
- 646weighted to 4.42
- Our top pick of the four
- 449 reviews at 4.5at $44, the most reviewed snorkelling trip here
Surface or tank
What snorkelling here is, and what it is not
Four listings, one surface, and three differences you can read off the data.
This site is built around scuba, and eight of its twelve listings are dives. The other four are snorkelling trips, and they are a different product sold on the same page: you stay on the surface, you breathe through a tube, and nobody straps a cylinder to you. If you have been searching scuba diving Las Palmas Gran Canaria and quietly hoping for something that keeps your face near the air, these four listings are the answer you were looking for.
The data separates them cleanly, and in three ways. Price: the four snorkelling trips run $39 to $78, while the cheapest dive on this site asks $96 and the highest fare of all, a three-day course, asks $507. Snorkelling is the cheaper way into the water here, and that is one sentence rather than a headline: the fare the site quotes you is the dive fare.
Length: the snorkelling trips are two, two and a half, two and a half and three hours. The dives spread much wider — two hours at the short end, six at the long end, and a course that runs over three days. A snorkelling trip is a morning or an afternoon; a dive can be either, and the course is a holiday inside a holiday.
Equipment: this is the difference nobody expects, and it is the sharpest one. Three of the four snorkelling descriptions put the kit in writing — full snorkelling equipment, equipment provided, a guide who sets up all the gear. Not one of the eight dive descriptions names equipment at all. That silence is not a promise in either direction: it means the dive listings leave the question to their own booking page, and you should read it there before you pay.
Four trips, four fares
The four snorkelling trips, side by side
Fares per person, the length each listing gives, and whether its own description names the equipment. The cost-per-hour column divides the fare by the hours, which is the fairest way to line a two-hour trip up against a three-hour one.
| Snorkelling trip | Length | Price | Equipment named | Cost per hour | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gran Canaria: Shore Snorkeling with PickupFrom the shore | 2.5 hours | $39 | Yes — full snorkelling equipment | $15.60 | 4.8 · 10 |
| Las Palmas: Las Canteras Beach Snorkeling TripAt the beach | 2.5 hours | $44 | Yes — equipment provided | $17.60 | 4.5 · 449 |
| Gran Canaria: Snorkeling TripWherever the guide takes you | 2 hours | $51 | Yes — the guide sets up the gear | $25.50 | 4.0 · 120 |
| Gran Canaria: Snorkel tour with boat on the west coastBy boat | 3 hours | $78 | Not named | $26.00 | 4.6 · 67 |
One by one
What each of the four listings says for itself
Four descriptions, cheapest first. Nothing here that the listing does not say.
- «Gran Canaria: Shore Snorkeling with Pickup» — $39, 2.5 hours
The lowest fare on this site, and the one that goes in from the shore: its description says guided snorkelling from the shore, clear Atlantic waters, marine life, full snorkelling equipment and pickup from selected areas. It also carries the thinnest evidence of the four — 10 reviews at 4.8 — so read that rating with the number next to it.
- «Las Palmas: Las Canteras Beach Snorkeling Trip» — $44, 2.5 hours
Our top pick of the four, and the reason is the evidence: 449 reviews at 4.5, more than two thirds of every snorkelling review on this site. Its description names Las Canteras beach, calls it one of the best urban beaches in the world, and says equipment is provided and a professional instructor guides you.
- «Gran Canaria: Snorkeling Trip» — $51, 2 hours
The shortest of the four and the one with the lowest rating on the page: 120 reviews at 4.0. Its description is the vaguest about where you go — an experienced guide sets up all the gear and takes you to the best spot — so the meeting point is a question for the booking page, not for this one.
- «Gran Canaria: Snorkel tour with boat on the west coast» — $78, 3 hours
The one that uses a boat, and the longest of the four: its description takes you along the southwest coast of Gran Canaria, which it calls part of the biosphere. 67 reviews at 4.6. It is also the one description of the four that does not name the equipment, which at this fare is worth checking first.
Snorkelling against scuba
Where the two products really separate
The fare. The four snorkelling fares sit below the eight dive fares: the highest of the four is $78, the cheapest dive is $96. Per hour the gap narrows and in places it closes: $78 over three hours works out at $26.00 an hour, while the cheapest dive over four hours works out at $24.00. If you are buying time in the water rather than a cheap afternoon, that is the number to look at.
The kit. Three of four snorkelling descriptions name it; none of the eight dive descriptions do. It is the one claim where the snorkelling listings are more specific than the dives, and it is the opposite of what most people assume.
The evidence. The four snorkelling trips carry 646 reviews between them, weighted to 4.42, and they are spread very unevenly: one listing holds 449 of them and another holds 10. A high star standing on ten reviews and the same star standing on hundreds are not the same evidence, and both numbers sit on every card below.
What neither side tells you. Marine life is the phrase three of these descriptions use, and it is as far as they go: no listing on this site names a species you are promised to meet. Treat anything more specific, wherever you read it, as somebody else writing.
Our verdict
Which of the four we would book
Book «Las Palmas: Las Canteras Beach Snorkeling Trip» at $44. It is the most reviewed snorkelling trip here by a wide margin, its description names both the equipment and a professional instructor, and it tells you exactly which beach you are swimming at. If you want the boat instead, the three-hour west coast trip at $78 is the one to read twice.
Getting in
How each trip gets you into the water
Four listings, four answers, and two of them leave the meeting point to the booking page. Taken from the descriptions only: the web addresses of these listings name places their own text never mentions, so the addresses are no help here.
| Snorkelling trip | How you reach the water | Length |
|---|---|---|
| Gran Canaria: Shore Snorkeling with PickupFrom the shore | Guided from the shore, with pickup from selected areas | 2.5 hours |
| Las Palmas: Las Canteras Beach Snorkeling TripAt the beach | At Las Canteras beach, the one place these four name | 2.5 hours |
| Gran Canaria: Snorkeling TripWherever the guide takes you | The guide takes you to the best spot; no place named | 2 hours |
| Gran Canaria: Snorkel tour with boat on the west coastBy boat | By boat along the southwest coast of Gran Canaria | 3 hours |
Getting in
Who tells you where to turn up, and who does not
Two of the four put a place in writing. The shore trip says you walk in from the shore and that pickup from selected areas is part of it. The beach trip names Las Canteras, and it is one of two listings on the whole site to name that beach — the other is a dive.
The other two are vaguer. One leaves the spot to the guide; the west coast trip names a boat and a stretch of coast rather than a harbour. For both, the meeting point is a line on the booking page.
Fitting it into a day
How much of your day each trip asks for
Two hours, two and a half, two and a half, three: that is the whole range here, and it is the narrowest part of this comparison. The shortest is «Gran Canaria: Snorkeling Trip» at two hours, the longest the west coast boat trip at three. Both still leave most of a day standing.
Set that against the dives and the choice gets easier to make. The shortest dive on this site is two hours as well, but the dive listings reach four, four and a half and six hours, and the certification course runs across three days. A snorkelling trip is something you can put either side of lunch; a six-hour dive day is the day.
None of these listings publishes its departure time here, and we are not going to invent one: the live calendar is the only place that is right.
Avoid these
Five mistakes people make choosing between them
Each one comes from something the listings say, or pointedly do not say.
- 1. Reading a snorkelling fare as a dive fare
The headline fare on this site is a dive fare, and it is $96. Snorkelling is cheaper, but it is a different trip: you stay on the surface. Check which product you are on before you compare numbers.
- 2. Assuming the dives include kit because the snorkelling trips do
Three of the four snorkelling descriptions name the equipment. Not one of the eight dive descriptions does. Whatever a dive includes, its own booking page is where that is written down.
- 3. Trusting a web address instead of a description
Two of these listings have place names in their web address that their own text never mentions, and a third sits in a catalogue folder for another island altogether. The description is the part the operator wrote about the trip.
- 4. Taking a star rating without the number under it
One of the four shows a high rating on ten reviews; another shows a slightly lower one on hundreds. Both are real; they are not the same evidence.
- 5. Booking the boat trip for the equipment
The west coast boat trip is the one of the four that does not name the equipment. If you would rather not carry a mask, the three that do name it are the safer read.
Before you book
Four things to check on the listing page
Short list, and all four are answered on the page you book from, not on this one.
- The meeting point
Two of the four name where you start. The other two leave it to the booking page, so open it before you plan your morning.
- What comes with the trip
Three of the four name the snorkelling equipment in writing. Read the inclusions list for anything else.
- The cancellation terms
Every listing here carries Free cancellation. The notice period is written on the listing itself.
- The number under the stars
The rating is only as strong as the review count beside it, and the counts here run from ten to hundreds.
Book direct
The four snorkelling trips, live fares
Shore, beach, guide’s choice and boat, cheapest first. Prices and ratings come straight from the listings.
Equipment provided449 reviews
2.5 hLas Palmas: Las Canteras Beach Snorkeling Trip
★ 4.5 · 449 reviews
- 2.5 hours, Snorkelling at Las Canteras beach
- Equipment provided
- Must book at least 10h in advance
- Free cancellation
$44$17.60 / hour
Check availability→ 
Two hours2 h
2 hGran Canaria: Snorkeling Trip
★ 4.0 · 120 reviews
- Two hours, A guide sets up all the gear
- Small group
- Two hours
- Free cancellation
$51$25.50 / hour
Check availability→ 
Snorkelling3 h
3 hGran Canaria: Snorkel tour with boat on the west coast
★ 4.6 · 67 reviews
- Three hours, Southwest coast by boat
- Hotel pickup available
- Snorkelling
- Free cancellation
$78$26.00 / hour
Check availability→ Changed your mind and want the tank after all?
The dives for people who have never dived→Common questions
Snorkelling on Gran Canaria, answered
How much does snorkelling cost here?
The four snorkelling trips run $39 to $78 per person. That is below the dive fares on this site, where the cheapest dive is $96. Snorkelling is the cheaper way in, but it is a different trip.
Is snorkelling the same as a try dive?
No. Snorkelling keeps you on the surface with a mask and a snorkel. A try dive puts a tank on your back with an instructor. Four of the twelve listings here are snorkelling; the other eight are dives.
Is equipment included?
Three of the four snorkelling descriptions say so in writing: full snorkelling equipment, equipment provided, and a guide who sets up all the gear. The west coast boat trip does not name it, and neither does any dive listing on this site.
Which snorkelling trip has the most reviews?
The Las Canteras beach trip: 449 reviews at 4.5, at $44. It holds more than two thirds of all the snorkelling reviews on this site, which is why it is our top pick of the four.
Can I snorkel at Las Canteras?
Two of the twelve listings name Las Canteras: one snorkelling trip and one dive. The snorkelling one is a two-and-a-half-hour trip at $44 whose description calls the beach one of the best urban ones in the world.
How long does a snorkelling trip take?
Two to three hours: two hours for the shortest, two and a half for two of them, three for the boat trip along the southwest coast. The dives here run two to six hours, and the certification course runs over three days.
Go deeper
More on scuba diving trips on Gran Canaria
Every listing
All twelve trips compared
The eight dives and the four snorkelling trips in one place, with live fares.
Never dived beforeNever dived before
The try-dives for people with no certificate, and what each one asks of you.
About this siteHow this site is put together
Who writes these pages, where the numbers come from and how we earn.
