El veril de playa chica (zona izquierda)

El Veril de Playa Chica (zona izquierda) — the left-hand zone of the Playa Chica reef — is the advanced counterpart to the beginner right-hand face: the same legendary reef off Puerto del Carmen's iconic beach, explored on its deeper, more exposed left-hand side where the volcanic basalt descends to significant depth and the conditions reflect the more open Atlantic exposure of this aspect of the reef. The left-hand zone is where Playa Chica delivers its most dramatic diving. The veril — the reef edge or drop-off — that defines Playa Chica's character is more pronounced on the left-hand side, where the wall drops away more steeply and the depth increases more dramatically than on the accessible right-hand face. The descent along the left-hand wall reveals a progressively richer encrusting community as depth increases: the shallow, algae-covered sections give way to denser sponge communities, then to the black coral formations that develop at the deeper reaches, and finally to the wire coral and gorgonian fans that decorate the wall at advanced depths. The advanced designation reflects depth, current exposure, and the experience required to navigate the left-hand face's more complex topography while managing air effectively. The current that runs along this exposed section can be significant during tidal flow, and drift diving techniques are sometimes appropriate. Local knowledge of the site's tidal patterns is valuable for planning optimal dive windows. At depth, the left-hand zone delivers the pelagic encounters that make advanced Playa Chica diving exceptional. Large grouper hold deep territorial positions in the wall's crevices, eagle rays patrol the wall face on occasion, and the open water beyond the left-hand zone is the domain of the schooling hunters — amberjack and barracuda — that exploit the productive conditions off Puerto del Carmen. Angel sharks rest on the sandy sections accessible from the wall base. The left-hand zone of Playa Chica's reef is advanced Lanzarote diving at its finest.