After getting some interesting offers in March 2014, I met a rebreather diver from Gran Canaria at the Dive and Travel Show in Madrid. He suggested that I come to Gran Canaria for wreck diving. At first, I was not particularly interested, because I really wanted to do some nice wreck dives, and the Canary Islands were not necessarily known for their wealth of wrecks. I had been to Lanzarote a few times, but I had never seen any interesting wrecks there. On the contrary, I was told again and again that there were no wrecks anywhere on the Canary Islands.

They are of volcanic origin, the evidence of which is still clearly visible and often bizarre. Spain’s highest peak, Teide-Pico Viejo stratovolcano, reaches 3,718m (12,198ft) and is found on the island of Tenerife. It attracts a lot of tourists, nature lovers, rest seekers and folks on weekend getaways. Varied landscapes also offer the best conditions for other sports. For many Europeans, the island is also the ideal place to spend the cold winter months. The mild climate in the winter here draws one straight to it.

Most divers, and especially underwater photographers, seem to think it is necessary to fly halfway around the globe to get a good dive or some great underwater images. Not so! Great diving is much closer to home, at least if you are based in Europe, or plan a stop-over in Madrid. The Canary Islands is a well-known holiday destination, but it seems most people are unaware of the great diving opportunities. Gran Canaria is located bang in the middle of the offshore island group, and offers perhaps the best combination of accessibility, value for money and great diving.

The whales also do not ride on the bow waves of boats, but rather avoid noise and are extremely quiet representatives of their kind—a species that lives quite inconspicuously in our world’s seas and hunts at great depths. As a result, little has been known about these whale species until 2004, when a large number of strandings, worldwide, were recorded, in the context of acoustic disturbances. Underwater photos of these marine mammals are rare because of their seclusion.

The smallest of the seven Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean is located on the western side of the volcanic archipelago. It is the end of the "Old World" where the zero meridian monument is found in the vicinity of the Faro de Orchilla lighthouse. In ancient times, in Europe (the Old World), it was thought that this was the westernmost point of the flat "disk" of the world upon which people lived—El Hierro was quite literally, at the ends of the world.

From the Americas, it may be less expensive flying to mainland Europe, then on. It’s become the main vacation hub in the Canary Islands, with five million visitors last year. It has, or at least has had, the reputation of being a party location, with cheap, slightly substandard accommodations in package holidays. Does its old reputation still hold, and more importantly, how is the diving?

It is the most easterly, most northerly and fourth largest island of the volcanic chain of the seven main Canary Islands, which are part of Spain but located just off the African coast. Lazarote is only 37 miles (60km) long and 12 miles (20km) wide, with 130 miles (213km) of shoreline. The whole island has Unesco World Biosphere Reserve status and an ecological style of tourism without mass high rise developments.

Dives have that special flavour that result from the meeting of Atlantic species with subtropical ones. Having dived in the rest of Canaries, I am struck by the diversity of the fish life around Hierro. It surpasses anything I have seen in the Canaries. The marine reserve and the absence of large-scale fishing around the island has something to do with it.

At first sight, the aquatic desert appears to be devoid of life, but appearances can be deceiving. Under thin veils of sand, scores of subtly camouflaged rays and cryptically coloured angel sharks lay dormant, waiting for divers to arrive with their tasty treats.