Scuba diving and kayaking in Europe

[IceCreamplz]

Hi, I am planning a nice beach holiday for my 40th next year.
My DH, DD9 and I are very interested to try out scuba diving and kayaking though DH and DD have never done it before.
We will be flying from Stansted. Ideally we want to avoid the place where we need to drive from the closest airport.
Currently Algarve is on my list but any suggestions would be appreciated.
The budget can be stretched a little but the cheaper the better. We don't often have spare cash to go on holiday like this, so I don't want to regret. Thank you.

Malta and the Canaries are good for beginner Scuba divers. I've never dived in Portugal, but I know people who have and the Google images look good!

If you've never done it before you can do a half day taster session and if you like it carry on for 3/4 days to do the full basic qualification.

In Malta you can take a boat trip to Comino to dive some easy caves and a shallow wreck, or go to Gozo which has great diving

Lanzarote has the underwater sculpture park just off Playa Blanca, which is interesting.

In Tenerife, we dived with rays and turtles from Costa Silencio.

If you want to fly from Stansted you could look for a Jet2holidays package and then you'll get everything included and if you stay in a resort (by this I mean a town by the sea/near the marina etc not a big AI hotel) then you'll not have to drive while you're away.

Have a look at ZOEA in Santa Ponsa, Majorca. They do scuba and kayak from the same little harbour (look on Google Maps). I have no relationship with them but a friend did a taster scuba session with them and said it was great.

I'm not sure exactly what you meant by "avoid the place where we need to drive from the closest airport" but Santa Ponsa is about 30 minutes from the airport by taxi or 45 minutes by bus. It's a nice medium-sized family-oriented resort with a big beach and a more secluded small beach. Majorca is not the cheapest place in the Mediterranean but there are some decent 3* hotels in Santa Ponsa.

Zadar in Croatia could do this. Or other hits or Croatia.

Lanzarote & Malta are both great for diving but I'm not sure about the kayaking but I'm guessing most places will have it?

Malta great for scuba, go to St Paul's Bay, and speak to Maltaqua, they do a full turn key solution with accommodation and are walking distance from nightlife. PM me if you need more information and I can give you a personal introduction.

Not sure about kayaking though.

There is also fabulous history on Malta that predates the pyramids by over a thousand years.

Thanks all for the wonderful suggestions! Really appreciate it.
It looks like Malta is very popular for divers. 😃

I took notes for all the places and will start researching soon.
@samarrange Sorry I meant we prefer not to rent a car. As long as we can take public transport or taxi, that is fine. Thanks for the idea.