I MARVELLED AT THE SUNLIGHT SHIMMERING on the hull of the wreck 20m below, only to hear a local diver grumbling that the viz was not as good as usual. I think the schools of silver sand smelt were impairing his view. We finned down and quickly passed the steel trawler, heading for the other five wrecks at the foot of the 40m drop-off.
Now known as the Old Harbour Wrecks, they were sunk off Lanzarote intentionally. The group of five - all-wooden-hulled fishing vessels - are rotting away to leave a ribbed effect, their spars silhouetted against a blue ocean in which barracuda and zebra bream swim.
Between the wrecks, fragments of superstructure protrude from the coarse sand. I was surprised by the speed with which a graceful eagle ray appeared. It came close before vanishing behind some wreckage.
The "large sea tigers" found here sound exciting but are in fact bright blue and yellow nudibranchs. I hoped to encounter a much bigger creature, and after ascending 20m back up the cliff face through schools of pink and orange Atlantic damselfish, our guide signalled that he had indeed found a large angel shark buried in the sand below.
He cleared the sand from its tail but it shot off and glided lazily at a metre over the bottom before flying over the drop-off. If you wish to enjoy an angel shark experience yourself, go in winter, before April.

OUT OF BOUNDS
In the distance, the intact steel wreck became visible again. Listing at 30° to starboard, it offered small companionways through which to swim, a wheelhouse and funnel with assorted superstructure and a mast that pointed towards the surface, surrounded by passing jacks.
The hull was covered in green algae in which pairs of brown lizardfish lurked. The sunlit port side was grazed by European parrotfish in numbers, bright red and yellow females and males which, though larger, were a drab grey in colour, flying along using their pectoral fins.
The bow jutted over the drop-off. Beneath it were a large red scorpionfish and a black moray eel. Back towards the stern, the superstructure and the smelt shoals were silhouetted memorably against the sun, and I had time to study the rudder and the four-bladed prop.
It was good to see in situ a gleaming brass blade that looked to have been polished regularly by caring hands.
There has been talk of extending the harbour at Lanzarote's main resort, Puerto del Carmen, which would place this exceptional site out of bounds. Let's hope it never happens.
Glass-bottomed boats already come very close to the wrecks. I had a close encounter with a yellow submarine on surfacing and was glad I had heeded the warning from Atlantic Diving Centre to surface on the shotline.
Atlantic has operations at either end of the main beach at Puerto del Carmen, with the Annexe at the eastern end dealing with UK divers. A five-minute boat ride in its 5.4m RIB will get you to any of its sites.
The RIB has only a 25hp outboard engine, which is small but does mean you will dive with only six others at most. Manager Jim Ellis says he deliberately keeps the numbers low, for his clients' enjoyment and so that he can sleep soundly at night!

INSIDE THE CATHEDRAL
Big grouper were not expected at the Cathedral site but in the event we did find two specimens over 1m long there, and I wasn't complaining. I followed them into a cave into which a yellow coral extended and found fireworms everywhere, their green segmented bodies bordered by flame-orange areas and white, bristling, stinging filaments that looked like blasts of steam.
The wall also revealed several different types of nudibranchs and flatworms, as well as colourful encrusting sponges of pink, yellow and orange.
The Cathedral itself is a cave with a 10m-wide entrance in 30m of water. The sea floor is 7m below and the sand shelves into the cave as it cuts around 10m back into the cliff.
Sleeperfish and hatchetfish, which prefer the shade, hung out in small schools, and the cracks and ledges at the back of the cave were full of red and yellow arrowhead crabs shuffling around on spindly legs. Better camouflaged were numerous scorpionfish.
Above the cave we swam inshore over the sand, noting our bubbles escaping through openings in the cave roof below.
On an inner reef of car-sized volcanic boulders, I found triple-fin blennies and stunning bluefin damselfish, along with pink and purple Atlantic damselfish and magnificently coloured Turkish wrasse dodging the barracuda.
Grouper Cave was the dive I most eagerly awaited, although only the little groupers showed themselves on the day - none bigger than 1.2m! The sea floor at the base of the cliffs is around "5m and covered in fine silt, which I found surprising as there was very little at any of the other sites. The viz in the narrow channel soon deteriorated.
My buddy and I signalled that we would lag behind the other divers, who were raising clouds of silt and causing the fish to retreat into caves or under overhangs. Taking photographs was also becoming difficult.
A 1.2m grouper hovered behind my fintips as if to escort us off its patch. It would swim away, only to return to make sure we really were leaving its territory.
Then it was a gentle swim up past a black moray eel to the boulders at the top of the reef, where numerous greater weaverfish, easily disturbed, would fin away, revealing sparkling golden and blue flanks.

ICING ON THE CAKE
All the dives had their individual character and surprises and the Blue Hole in particular proved to be a scenic wonder. The cliff dropped away and the walls were covered with sponges of vibrant orange and red. Schools of common bream glided along them.
At the base of the colourful wall, where the cliff cut back at an angle and a row of "m-high boulders protruded from the seabed, a group of large barracuda held station.
Then the water around us shimmered and shook as what seemed like millions of sand smelt darted away like one huge tormented beast from the predators.
The excitement was not over yet. I was busy photographing anemones when I noticed my buddy fumbling with his camera as a large jack shot along the drop-off. I saw a general flapping of arms and excited pointing but I couldn't see the object of everyone's attention - you know the feeling.
They were lucky - it turned out to be the first time even our guide from Atlantic had seen a devilfish, that smaller relative of the manta ray, in five years!
We had yet to reach the Blue Hole itself, an archway around 4m high and named after the glorious shafts of light filling the space from a small opening in the roof. And on ascent, the sandbank at around 15m provided the icing on the cake with its generous display of garden eels.

A colourful scorpionfish

shoals of sand smelt


one of the many large grouper


from the inside looking out at the Harbour Wreck site


part of the trawler hull


a globular anemone

GETTING THERE Scheduled flights to Lanzarote are available from all UK airports. DIVING DETAILS: Atlantic Diving Centre is located in the capital, Puerto del Carmen, 00 928 51 07 17, jimellis6"@hotmail.com ACCOMMODATION: There are plenty of good hotels and self-catering accommodation costing from £200-500 per person for a fortnight. MONEY: Pesetas, credit cards FOR NON-DIVERS: Watersports, waterparks, beach, volcanic park at Fire Mountain in Timanfaya National Park, submarine, glass-bottomed boats. BEST TIME TO GO:Average temperature of 22¡C makes this an all-year-round destination. To see angel sharks, the best time is Jan-April, when they breed. Go in summer to see seahorses. WATER TEMPERATURE:16-22°C, so a 5mm wetsuit should do. DIVING SUITABLE FOR: Every level. COST:A two-week package including flights costs from £"90-690 depending on class of accommodation. August is the most expensive time of year. Direct Holidays 01"1 226 2"45, www.direct-holidays.co.uk. A 10-dive pack at Atlantic costs £125

PROS: Wide range of marine life. Good visibility. Easily accessible destination. Relatively inexpensive. Can be dived at any time of year. Appeals to wreck as well as reef divers. Night life.

CONS: Diving is in Atlantic waters, which are not as warm as those of some destinations. Lanzarote is a popular general tourist destination so it can get busy at certain times.