Easydivers review: the Albufeira dive centre on the marina promenade

Who Easydivers are

Easydivers is the dive centre in Albufeira itself. Its shop is on Passeio dos Oceanos, the promenade of Marina de Albufeira, a short walk from the pontoons where the cave boats leave, and the operator describes itself as a PADI and SSI centre with the top “Diamond” rating from SSI. That is a different trade from the boat trips most of this site covers: the product is time under water with a regulator, rather than a seat on a boat that looks at the cliffs from outside.

When we checked the operator’s own website in August 2026 it listed try dives, certification courses from beginner to professional level, guided dives for certified divers, refresher sessions, boat trips and a full shop for diving and spearfishing gear. The site runs in English, Portuguese, Spanish, French and German. We did not find a fleet list or named dive sites on the pages we read, so we do not print them; the boat is described as having a marine toilet, which matters more on a dive day than on a two-hour cave loop.

Try dives, courses and guided dives

Three products come up, and they are three different mornings. Our diving guide explains the formats sold along this coast in general; here is how they read on the Easydivers side.

A try dive (Discover Scuba, or “batismo de mergulho” in Portuguese) is for people who have never dived. It starts with a briefing and shallow-water practice and ends with a supervised dive with an instructor at your side. No certificate is needed, but a medical questionnaire is: questions about lungs, ears, heart and recent flights are the gate, and an honest “yes” to some of them means a doctor’s signature before you can dive. Children can usually take part from around ten under the training agencies’ rules, but the listing sets the minimum age for the specific product.

A course turns the try dive into a certificate. The entry-level Open Water course runs over several days with theory, confined-water sessions and open-water dives, so it suits a week’s holiday, not an afternoon. Easydivers lists both SSI and PADI paths, plus specialties and professional-level training.

A guided dive is for divers who already hold a certificate. You show the card, the operator checks how recently you dived (a refresher is offered if it has been a while) and you join a boat dive to a reef or wreck the skipper picks for the day’s sea state. Depth follows your certification level, not your wish list.

• Try dive: no certificate, medical questionnaire, instructor with you throughout.
• Course: several days, ends with a certificate; check the schedule fits your stay.
• Guided dive: certification card required; site and depth depend on the sea and your level.
• Equipment is normally included in try dives and courses; confirm on the listing.

Who Easydivers suits, and who should book something else

Book Easydivers if someone in the group has asked to dive, or already dives and wants a boat dive in the Algarve while everyone else is on the beach. Book the course if you have several days and the medical form is clean.

Book something else if the wish is simply to see fish. A guided snorkelling or coasteering trip with Sea Land Algarve puts you in the water with a mask and no medical form, in less time and for less money. Book a boat if the aim is Benagil: the cave is a boat or kayak visit under the Capitania rules, not a dive site, and the Benagil cave tour is a separate ticket on a separate morning. Do not book a dive as a surprise gift: the medical form, the age limit and the fact that the person has to want to breathe under water all count against it.

Where Easydivers check in

The shop is on Passeio dos Oceanos at Marina de Albufeira, so the meeting point is the same complex the cave boats use; the marina guide covers walking routes, parking and what to do if you are late. Reviews quoted on the operator’s site mention a 9:00 departure for dives, so plan an earlier start than for a cave boat and allow time for paperwork before the boat leaves. A dive boat does not wait for a late medical form.

How to book and what to check on the listing

Easydivers has its own website with booking, and its products also appear on platforms such as GetYourGuide and Viator; our booking guide explains how the platforms differ on cancellation and support. Whichever calendar you use, read the title first: try dive, guided dive and course are priced and scheduled differently, and a search for “diving Albufeira” also returns centres in Portimão, Lagos and Vilamoura. Filter by town.

Then check five things: the minimum age and whether a parent must sign; the medical questionnaire, which you can read in advance on the PADI or SSI sites; what is included (equipment, boat, instructor) and what is extra (photos, certification fees on courses); the cancellation rule if the sea state stops the boat, which usually means a refund or a new date; and how many dives and days a course involves. Do not put a dive and a flight on the same day: the training agencies ask for a surface interval of at least 12 hours before flying, and longer after several dives, so the last dive belongs early in the week, not on the morning before your flight home.

Sea conditions matter more than the calendar. Diving runs for most of the year from Albufeira, but a strong swell cancels the boat in any month, and visibility is usually best from late summer into autumn. Our best-time guide has the monthly picture for the coast.

Easydivers compared with Sea Land, Seacret and the cave boats

Sea Land Algarve and Seacret Tours sell surface-water products: coasteering with helmets, snorkelling from a beach or a RIB and, in Seacret’s case, small-boat cave trips. They need no certificate and cost less per hour. Easydivers is the one desk in the marina that puts a tank on your back, so the comparison is only fair if the person wants that. The cave boats, Dream Wave and the rest of the marina fleet, are a different afternoon: two and a half hours on a boat from about €34, dolphins if they show, no time in the water. Buy the dive only if the dive is the point.