Tips on exploring Gran Canaria. Part IV - The yellow submarine.

Alongside trying my hand at making gifs and finding out it is simpler than breathing(almost), I have been thinking what to write about today. I wasn't sure or knew what to do but after a little while of thinking, I realized that I could finish my Gran Canaria Post series for this year. Yes, just this year. I am definitely going to visit my aunt next year and will go on new adventures then.

My last activity is quite an interesting one. Worth looking at once. It is featuring a lot of fishes just like the last post did. However, the colors here are featuring fewer tones and the experience is completely different. Once again, I am welcoming you to Mogan but this time I am taking you on a deep-sea trip exploring the bottom of the ocean.

Still at the pier, where the color is brighter

Here are my previous posts on Gran Canaria:

Tips on exploring Gran Canaria. Part I - Mogan
Tips on exploring Gran Canaria. Part II - Día de Canarias
Tips on exploring Gran Canaria. Part III - Aquarium ''Poema De Mar''.

Here are the prices for the trip:

• 31.50 € per adult
• 16.00 € per child
• Babies up to one year go for free

If you have never been on a submarine trip, this is the choice you could make. With a modern and comfortable submarine, soft chairs, and big windows, you can observe the local sea life to the fullest. As always, I will start with the little negatives that the trip had and then move on to the positives. Scare you first, ease you in later. Isn't that how it is all done?

This trip is one that does not take long. It is short, less than an hour. And it is pricey. It is worth it but nobody is saying that the owners are not once again ''grabbing cash''. Another thing to consider is that you will see a lot of blue and gray. Yes, there are fishes but they are gray in the cost of Gran Canaria. There are, however, a lot of them to look at but you should not expect the colorful colors that an aquarium offers. Also, no, there are no sharks. Not even the native hammer sharks. They live further away. With that, the negatives end and you are faced with a fact that this trip is not that bad after all. Not if you are ready to pay for your 4-year old who will not remember the experience.

Yes, those are all fish. And, yes, that is the visibility.

This trip goes a lot of times a day. I may be mistaken but I think it was seven. However, it is always full, so you should definitely buy your tickets on time. This is the most popular sightseeing tour on the whole island not only because this submarine is the only one in Gran Canaria but also because most of us are curious about the depths of the ocean and submarines are a cause of wonder in many. Also, because this is the most popular trip, it brings in the most money. And, the owner is not just money-grabbing. His submarine is new, clean, and spotless. You are greeted with employees that look professional and do not bargain with you if you want a lower price. They earn their due and so this is a prestige trip that will actually give you a reciet.

There is a new tent set up next to the docking deck. The scorching Gran Canaria sun hasn't touched it yet. The inside of the submarine is warm but not hot. Eash passenger is photographed and has an opportunity to purchase a photo from the photographer. You sit on blue chairs grouped for two people and are faced with screens showing the temperature, broadcasting the image from the front of the vessel, and displaying the water depth. You can also observe the captain and his first mate as the cockpit is open and visible to everyone all throughout the trip. The sub is not claustrophobic(I am a little afraid of closed spaces) and you do not feel like someone else is breathing down your neck.

First off, you are let in the submarine the good old fashion way. Like they show in the movies, through a hole. Then you sit down in a place you choose, without strapping in. The adventure begins. You can already see the stones of the pier underwater and the first fish appear here. However, you will not descent immediately. What will happen is you will be pulled by a boat, into the open ocean. The passengers can observe this through a small screen in front of them. For every two passengers, there is one screen. You are not allowed to walk in the vessel. After you are pulled out of the harbor, the real trip begins and you finally start the descent, accompanied by a voice that informs you of everything, in multiple languages.

There is a lot of fish and they swim right next to the submarine. However, they are all the same color and there is no speck of vibrant tones. The locally famous Dorada that you can find in every restaurant here, in Gran Canaria, are having their best life just like many other fishes. After all, they are fed regularly by the locals so they stay and live on the route of the submarine.

If the fish were the only thing you saw during this trip, it would be awfully dull. But they are not the only things there and that makes the journey very interesting. Especially for the little ones. Alongside dumped shipwrecks that stretch for meters and meters, there is also a lost city created underwater. It sounds fancier than it is, though and I would suggest not getting your hopes very high up as I was quite disappointed because of my expectations. The ''sunken city'' is a group of cement columns, walkways, and helmets as well as giant human spines. Kind of. Your kids will be left with an impression that there once really existed giants so be ready to explain the truth to them or let them dream for a while. Or, if you believe in giants, do not use this as proof. These are not real bones.

In these huge giant helmets, there are ropes and signs of them being dropped to the bottom of the water. There are steel rods sticking out of columns and most of us know that in ancient times those did not exist. The trip is nice but it is not an ancient city you will find. It is more like one-fifth of a building scattered around. A thing worth mentioning is that it does not matter on which side of the submarine you sit. These ruins are visible on both sides and the submarine turns around later on on its journey and your places will have been switched then.

The trip itself took us about 45 minutes but that was with all of the pullings and descending, then ascending. You are frequently informed by a pleasant voice of what is happening around, and the most interesting things of the trip are the shipwrecks that you can see have been dumped, and the various breeds of gray fish. And let me tell you, there are many. Huge schools of fish that float through the sunken ships. Long ones that resemble snakes. Maybe they were eels, maybe not. Then there is the first-moment surprise on spotting huge fragments of spines scattered around but still making that long line that lets you immediately know what they are meant to be.

The trip is interesting but I went on it for free (thanks to my aunt's boyfriends connections). If I would have paid the full fee, I think, I would be somewhat disappointed. However, I have lived in Gran Canaria and know the prices of other trips in comparison to this. They are more interesting and cheaper (dolphin tours, family boats, party boats). However, everyone should check out a submarine at least once in their lives. Just to be able to check it off of your list. It was worth just because of that and this vessel was not shabby at all. I trusted it completely not to drown us all.

That is all about this shorter trip. You will be offered many other journeys to go on while walking through the port and they might interest you. A tip on those other trips, look uncertain and like you are leaning on the negative side of going, it might get you a discount. Also, there is a restaurant some meters away from the submarine. It is in the port and if you are hungry it might interest you. There are also other places to eat, though, and if you feel like exploring, check these out before deciding.

This will be my last post on Gran Canaria in a while. I will be moving on to my hometown of Ventspils, in Latvia soon, and, after that, I have a steemit wedding to attend and I will write about it, too.

Have the best day, today, tomorrow, and forever.
Linda