Situated directly next to the beach at the Atalaya Park Hotel, close to San Pedro, Happy Divers Marbella and IDC College has been professionally managed and run by Peter Deth since 1996. The other site - Happy Divers Marbella Port -is situated in the leisure harbour close to the centre of the town, and offers the same high standards of safety and adventure as its counterpart near San Pedro.

Just 13km from Marbella and Estepona, Happy Divers Marbella is open all year – March to November from 9.30am to 7pm and from December to February – Sunday to Friday – 10am-6pm. The centre is located away from the noisy tourist areas, and offers a friendly, informal atmosphere, where the emphasis is placed on individual service and attention. Unlike many diving centres on the coast, scuba equipment only has to be carried around 30 metres to pool and boat.

The Happy Divers Marbella and IDC College is the highest rated PADI dive centre in Spain, and the first ever National Geographic Dive Centre in Spain. It also became a Scubapro S.E.A Diving Centre in 1997, and is one of only 210 Scubapro recommended centres in the world. Divers are taught from beginners to instructor level and beyond, and the equipment is maintained regularly by trained staff.
All of the staff are multi-lingual, and all instructional courses are offered in English, Spanish, German and French.

Facilities include: a fully stocked shop with equipment and accessories, offices, classrooms, workshops and even a chiringuito where wet suits, fins and diver´s equipment can be stored.

Aprés Diving
The diver´s bar is situated in front of the dive centre where divers can share experiences or simply relax in this beautiful setting.

Dive Boat
The dive boat, named Happy Divers Marbella, is 6m long and carries up to 16 divers and their equipment. Equipped with sonar and GPS, the boat can also comfortably reach dive sites which are further away.

Beginner´s Course
Instructional courses follow the guidelines of PADI & NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC.The first skills of every beginners course will be done in one of the hotel`s pools - no matter whether it is an introductory- or a full instructional course, which concludes with an international recognized certificate. Beginners practice everything important for their safety under water and learn to handle the dive equipment.
PADI courses are available from beginners to instructor level.

Advanced Divers
Offers for advanced divers are also available throughout the year, plus speciality courses such as medical and safety. Details of these can be found on the company´s website: www.happy-divers-marbella.com

Dive Sites
The dive sites are from between 5 and 30 minutes from the centre by boat or car. There are currently 20 sites, 10 for boat dives and 10 for shore dives, and these are spread over 50km of coastline. Easy shallow water dives to more demanding deep dives for experienced divers are offered. Different characters of the sites include rocky, underwater landscape, reefs, wrecks and a rich marine life including seahorses, spider crabs, sunfish, dolphins and groupers. As the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic, divers are guaranteed to see rich plant and marine life from both oceans – making this one of the most impressive dive areas in Spain.

Prices
Prices for a single dive start from €30 including equipment, and there are many packages available, including day excursions, wreck dives and economy dive packages.

Diving for Kids
Children have to be only 8 years old to discover the secrets of the underwater world on their own. 6 special equipments for children are available.

The manager of Happy Divers Marbella, Peter Deth, is very experienced in scuba diving with children. He studied pedagogics and managed children-animation and scuba diving for children for 3 years in a German dive club. From experience it is known that children should not be younger then 8 years old or they could have difficulties to manage the snorkels and/ or the special mouthpieces for child regulators. 8 year olds can join the PADI programs “Bubblemaker” and “SealTeam”.

When they are 10 years old children can follow the PADI Junior Programs “PADI Junior Scuba Diver” and/ or “PADI Open Water Diver”. Happy Divers Marbella also offers a range of programmes for advanced dive kids.
If they already have a certificate on the beginners level, have some dive experience and are at least 12 years old, they can take the PADI courses, which include Junior Adventure Diver, Junior Advanced Open Water Diver and Junior Rescue Diver. There is also the offer of the exclusive National Geographic Course.

How to find us
Coming from Málaga direction; take the N 340 coast road towards Cadiz/ Algeciras and continue all the way around Marbella, then through the town of San Pedro de Alcántara. At the end of San Pedro there is a large white arch spanning the road with the words Marbella/ San Pedro. Approximately 1 km after this arch you will find the exit signposted ‘Benahavis’. Take this exit and you will come to a roundabout where on your right hand side is a petrol service station. Turn to the left at this roundabout and go under the N 340 road to the other side and towards the sea. After you have gone under the main road continue for about 200 m until you see the word STOP painted on the road. Turn to your left (water tower) follow this road and the signposts for ‘Atalaya Park Hotel’. On the hotel premises you find us at the beach.

Coming from Estepona direction; take the N 340 road towards Málaga/ Marbella. After about 10 km there is on your left hand side a shopping center and shortly after a red and blue house “the bed & sofa centre”.
Approximately 1 km past this red and blue house there is a sign for ‘Benahavis 250 m’. At this point on the right hand side is the ‘Unicaja’ bank in a white building with green windows and the exit for ‘Isdabe’. Take this exit, go under an arch with the word ‘Isdabe’, and then immediately turn left. Continue across another road and on for about 200 metres, at which point you must follow the road around to the right. It will be signposted for ‘Atalaya Park Hotel’. On the hotel premises you find us at the beach.

Contact: Peter Deth, Atalaya Park Hotel, Ctra. De Cadiz, Km 168.5, 29680, Estepona, Malaga. Tel: 0034 952 889 000. Mobile: 0034 609571920. Fax: 0034 952 887 633. Website: www.happy-divers-marbella.com

If they have already a certificate on the beginners level, have some dive experience and are 12 years old they can take the PADI courses: “Junior Adventure Diver”, “Junior Advanced Open Water Diver” and “Junior Rescue Diver”. There is also an offer on the exclusive National Geographic Course.