Richies Place

Richie's Place is an advanced dive site in the Puerto del Carmen dive zone, bearing the name of the diver or dive operator who first explored and mapped this section of the reef with sufficient devotion to have it bear their name in perpetuity. This practice of naming dive sites after the individuals who developed them is a tradition in local diving communities worldwide, and Richie's Place is part of the informal cartography that builds up around any intensively dived coastal area over decades of exploration. The site lies just south of Puerto del Carmen's famous Playa Chica, in the section of the reef where depth increases and the advanced character of the outer reef becomes apparent. The advanced designation reflects the combination of depth, the current that can develop along this exposed section of coast on tidal changes, and the experience required to get the most from what this section of reef offers. The visibility that Puerto del Carmen consistently provides makes the depth feel less claustrophobic than at sites with lesser clarity, but the decompression implications of deeper diving remain regardless of how good the conditions are. The reef at Richie's Place descends beyond the accessible range of the beginner Playa Chica sites into the richer encrusting community that develops in deeper Canarian water. Sponge formations are more elaborate, black coral begins to appear at the deepest accessible sections, and the wire coral formations that develop on Lanzarote's outer reef faces are present in good quantity. The grouper that occupy this section are large, territorial, and thoroughly accustomed to divers who approach respectfully. Angle sharks are possible on the sandy sections adjacent to the reef, and the open water beyond the reef edge — visible in Puerto del Carmen's typically excellent clarity — occasionally delivers eagle ray and amberjack encounters of a quality that makes advanced depth worthwhile. A meaningful local name for a meaningful dive.