Isub San José

Who they are

Isub San José is a diving centre opened in 1998 in the village of San José, within the Cabo de Gata-Níjar Natural Park. It is run by the company INDALOSUB S.L. and is registered in the Andalusia Tourism Register as an active tourism business under number AT/AL/00008. It has PADI 5 Star Gold Palm Resort status and says on its website that it has received the Neptuno award for best national dive centre at the Tourbuceo fair. Its team, according to the staff page, is made up of Antonio Giménez, Ramón Esteban, David Valverde, Txema Raigón and Rafa Álvarez. As well as training divers, it hires and sells equipment and has an equipment servicing department.

Boats and dive areas

It goes to sea from the port of San José in Moggaro 650 Dive boats, with a waterline ladder, a rack for twelve cylinders and room for ten divers plus the guide and the skipper. Most dives are less than seven miles from the port, from the steamship Arna, a wreck sunk more than ninety years ago, to the Amatista area. Some areas are strict reserve and are not dived; the centre tells you where you can swim with a mask from the surface. The site for each outing is chosen according to sea conditions.

What it teaches

For beginners, guided snorkelling, freediving introductions and cylinder diving introductions, which count as credit towards the beginner course at a PADI centre during the following year. For those who want to qualify, the whole recreational PADI ladder, from Scuba Diver and Open Water to Rescue and Master Scuba Diver, and the professional one, with Divemaster and instructor assistant. It has PADI and AIDA freediving courses, adaptive diving and specialities such as nitrox, wrecks, night, dry suit, sidemount, posidonia or underwater photography and video. The Open Water lasts five days from Monday to Friday, with the pool in the morning and dives in the afternoon, or is spread over weekends; the theory can be done online.

Equipment, safety and booking

The introductory dive and courses include hire of the full equipment; for snorkelling, wetsuit, mask, snorkel and fins are included, with a boat trip if the weather allows. Before diving you must fill in the medical questionnaire required by Royal Decree 550/2020 and, depending on the answers, a doctor's signature may be needed. Published prices include VAT. You book by phone, by email or on their online booking platform; the website does not publish cancellation conditions, so ask when booking. The website is in Spanish, English, French and German, but does not say in which languages the classes are given.