About the dive centre
Family business since 2004
Discover the underwater world of Menorca with us! Muriel and Joop have been running Son Bou Scuba dive centre since 2004 and are excited to share the colorful underwater life of Menorca with you. In 2025 we celebrated 20 years as a PADI Five-Star dive centre. As a family business, we are committed to offering you the best diving experience on the island with the best dive sites.
Before Menorca, Muriel and Joop worked for 10 years in the Maldives as dive instructors and base leaders. Our many years of experience, combined with high safety standards and a professional team, guarantee a successful diving vacation at our dive centre. Please click here to meet the team.
Necessities
We recommend that you register yourself at least one day in advance. If you have a diving licence and logbook, please bring them with you to the dive centre. To dive in Spain you also need a diving insurance. If you do not have diving insurance, you can buy one with us. We have daily insurance, but also weekly, monthly and yearly insurance.
Health declaration
Since June 2020, a medical certificate of health is no longer required in Spain. Anyone who wants to dive or enroll in a PADI course can now declare themselves fit to dive, provided that the questionnaire on the first page of the diving medical examination can be answered with ‘no’. If you answer a question with ‘yes’, please follow the instructions on the form. Please click on this link to download the form.
Organisation
Every morning we organise a double dive (but you can also choose to do a single dive). The dive centre opens at 09:00 and around 09:30 we leave by our mini-bus to a dive site or the port (please note: opening times may vary slightly, depending on the month).
At least 2 land or boat dives are organised daily to some of the 45 best sites Menorca has to offer. Our dive sites are located all over the island. This allows us to dive every day, regardless of the wind direction. Between the first and second dive we keep a surface interval of about 45 minutes, during which we provide you with a snack and soft drinks or water.
For dive sites in the Northern Marine Reserve, we use a Whaly 500R Pro (up to 8 divers). For dive sites further away, we rent boats from other dive centres on the island (up to 10 divers). Of course, we have communication equipment, oxygen, a first aid box and spare equipment on board and in the mini-buses.
Depending on the dive sites visited and the time spent there, we usually get back to the dive centre around 14:30. This is ideal for divers who want to spend the afternoon with their family or to explore Menorca.
Upon request, we organise a single boat dive / snorkelling excursion in the Northern Marine Reserve in the afternoons (weather permitting). The afternoon excursions depart at 15:30.
Night diving is also possible from 3 divers.
Service
You don’t need to worry about your diving equipment: as a service, we make sure your equipment is rinsed and stored at the dive centre, ready for your next dive.
If you are staying in Son Bou, San Jaime or Torre Solí, we will be happy to collect you. If you are staying elsewhere on Menorca, we offer pick-ups at an affordable price.
Safety comes first
Son Bou Scuba has all the necessary permits (Authorised Centre CB-19/2010). We comply with all Spanish and European safety laws and regulations. We have emergency oxygen, communication equipment and first aid kits in the dive centre, minibuses and boats.
Green Fins Member
We care about the underwater environment, as the sea is our ‘office’. That is why we joined Green Fins. Green Fins is initiative of the Reef-World Foundation that protects marine life through environmental guidelines. In collaboration with the UN Environment Programme, Green Fins promotes sustainability by offering low-cost and practical solutions to harmful practices such as anchoring, fish feeding and chemical pollution.
As a member of Green Fins, we actively try to minimise our impact on marine life, not only through efficient use of resources, but also through an annual self-assessment, regular environmental training for staff and participation in clean-ups. Our vision is to make sustainable diving and snorkelling the social norm, thereby improving the health of underwater environment.
Specialty training
Son Bou Scuba offers several PADI specialty courses, such as cavern diver, Nitrox, deep, sidemount diver, self-reliant diver and Dolphin rebreather diver, to name a few. Some specialty courses cannot be conducted during the high-season. Please contact us in advance to avoid dissapointment. The PADI Divemaster course, PADI Assistant Instructor, EFR Instructor and the DAN Oxygen Instructor course can only be booked by appointment.
Diving for children
Our little divers have also been thought of! For children aged 8 to 10, every afternoon we organise Bubblemaker dives in the swimming pool, a 2-minute walk from the dive centre. From the age of 10, it is possible to do a Discover Scuba dive in the sea. It is also possible to obtain a PADI Junior Scuba Diver or PADI Junior Open Water Diver diving certificate at the age of 10 (at the discretion of the instructor). Son Bou Scuba has special children's equipment available, such as dive suits, regulators and 5- & 8-litre dive cylinders.
Tec diving
Son Bou Scuba is the specialist for cave diving in Menorca! We offer 15 different caves and caverns in our program, ranging from easy to full cave. For divers who want to gain more experience with caves, we offer the PADI specialties ‘Cavern Diver’ and ‘Intro to Cave’. These courses are a good preparation for the more difficult cave- and cavern dives and ensure that you become an even better diver. More information can be found on our price list page.
For those who like a challenge, we offer ‘Discover Rebreather’ dives. After an extensive equipment and safety briefing, you can make a try-dive in the pool or in the sea with the Dräger Dolphin semi-closed rebreather. We also offer the PADI specialty course ‘Dolphin Semi-Closed Rebreather’, ideal for underwater photographers. If you already have this certificate, you can also rent one of our rebreathers.
For sidemount and technical divers we have 11.1 aluminum tanks available, as well as 12 liter twinsets and 5.6 liter stage tanks with deco gas for deep dives. These tanks can be combined with XDeep Zeos wings, Xdeep Tec, Classic and Diamond sidemount wings. Items such as reels, spools and cave diving lights etc. can of course also be rented.
Equipment
Son Bou Scuba’s dive equipment is practically brand new. Every five years we replace our complete range of BCD’s, regulators and dive cylinders. We have 50 steel tanks from 3 to 15 litres, in both DIN and INT versions. For technical diving, we have double sets and 5.6 & 11.1 litre aluminium tanks.
Because our dive sites are breathtaking, the tanks are filled to 210 BAR by three Bauer compressors with a capacity of 300 litres per minute. The quality of the air is checked regularly and the service is carried out as prescribed by the manufacturer.
Son Bou Scuba is a dealer for Aqualung, Apeks, Fourth Element, Mares, Polaris and XDeep, among others. We have the following equipment for rent for our divers:
- Apeks DS4/ATX-40 regulators with ATX-40 octopus and pressure gauge
- Aqualung Wave BCD’s and XDeep ZEOS wings (sizing from 3XS to XXXL)
- Aqualung I330R dive computers with color display (suitable for Nitrox and deco)
- Aqualung SeaFlare aluminium LED dive lights (1300 lumens)
- Aqualung 5.5 mm dive suits. We have suits in almost all sizes, and these can be combined with a shorty, hood and gloves if desired
At Son Bou Scuba you can rent a complete equipment set for € 15 per dive, so why would you bring your own?
We have digital underwater cameras from Canon and GoPro cameras to rent. If you want, one of our dive guides can make photos or film you during your dive, so that you can relive your diving adventure at home.
The dive centre has a large basin to wash your equipment and enough space to hang up your personal equipment. In our workshop we can check your dive equipment and carry out minor repairs. We are also an authorised Apeks regulator service facility.
After returning we like to sit in front of the dive centre to talk about the dives. In order to be able to identify the fish we have seen, we have several fish ID books at your disposal.
Water temperature
In May, the water of the Mediterranean is still a bit chilly at 15 degrees. A 5-mm hooded suit and gloves are recommended. For those who get cold easily, a 7-mm suit or dry suit is an alternative, especially if you make two dives.
In June the sea water reaches a temperature of about 22 degrees, in July and August even up to 28 degrees. With these temperatures, a shorty or a 3-mm suit are sufficient. For the vacation month of your choice, please use the table below:
| Month | Temperature water ºC | Temperature air ºC | Sunshine hours per day |
| April | 15 | 10-18 | 7 |
| May | 15-18 | 13-21 | 8.5 |
| June | 18-22 | 17-25 | 10 |
| July | 22-26 | 20-28 | 11 |
| August | 25-28 | 21-29 | 10 |
| September | 22-27 | 18-26 | 7 |
| October | 20-22 | 15-22 | 6 |
| November | 18-20 | 11-18 | 4 |
