Diving in Spain

Costa Maresme starts from Barcelona and spreads 50km towards north east all the way to the the River Tordera, which contributes to charasteristics of the coastal waters by delivering mineral rich sediments incuding quartz and feldspar from the northern valleys and Montseny natural park. While Costa Brava further to the north has some of the most beautifull dive sites in Spain, Costa Maresme offers excellent diving opportunites in the Barcelona area. There is a nice variety of rocky platforms, posidonia meadows, caves and wrecks to be found in these waters. The local trains run literally along the beach accessing most of the towns in the coast and popular dive destination Mataró is just..

La Manga is situated in the south-east corner of Murcia (Spain). It is a narrow 20km long strip which runs roughly north- south. To the west of La Manga - between the strip itself and the mainland - lies the salt water lagoon of the Mar Menor. To the east lies the Mediterranean. With water temperatures of 26-28C in July and August, abundant marine life and good visibility, La Manga is a great place for diving and snorkelling. The Mediteranean coast of La Manga features islands and submerged pinnacles of volcanic rock. There are also vast prairies of Neptune grass (Posidonia Oceanica) which provide food and shelter for all shapes and sizes of marine life. Main boat dive sites are..

Las Calles is a large dive area on the Atlantic side of the Tarifa island. It is best suited for diving in Levante when the island provides cover from the wind. The optimum diving depth at this site varies from 5 to 25 meters, increasing as you move further away from the island. The scale of the area allows planning for various dives suitable for both beginners and advanced divers. The site gets its name Las Calles or "the streets" from the passageways and swimthroughs between the large rock formations resembling high walls arising from the sand. While following the streets one can observe the clear contrast between the plain sandy bottom and the rocks covered with all kinds of sea wee..

Fraggle rock or Piedra de la Higuera is a solitary underwater hill rising from the sloping sandy sea bed at the southern side of the Marina del Este bay in the depth of 16 to 24 meters. Its rock walls are split down with long fractures forming hideouts for resident conger eels and their accompanying cleaner shrimps, who happily pose for the perfect photo only to be disturbed by the mandatory cardinal fish blocking the view. Large octopuses hide in their dens near the sea floor where the rock merges into a sandy bottom. Schools of small bream circulate the rock and groups of red mullet sleep on the sand. This area is a popular cleaning station for pelagic sunfish that are often seen here..

The wreck of Ribera el Miño, a paddle steamship made of steel was mistakenly named San Andres after some of the parts of the ballast recovered from the wreck. Presumably these lead sheets were cast in the Foundation of the San Andrés de Málaga, whose owner was related to one of the crew members. Ribera el Miño was build in England in 1853 and sank just three years after in a collision with English frigate HMS Minden. She sank in just few minutes taking with her 64 of the 85 passengers. San Andres is usually dived by anchoring on the plateau in front of El Boquete at 4m. From there we can descent directly to 18 meters and take the direction S-SE (210) leaving the wall on our right sh..

Cabo de Gata - Nijar Natural Park is located on a small peninsula in the Almerìa province (Spain). It is the first marine and terrestrial Natural Park and the largest coastal protected area in Andalusia. The park covers and impressive 45,663ha with a marine zone of 12,200ha and it was designated a Unesco Biosphere reserve in 1997. It's mountain range is Spain's largest volcanic rock formation and it still the most important volcanic area in the Iberian Peninsula. The park has an unique flora and fauna on land and underwater, as well as a spectacular geology. The 63 kilometers coastline of dunes, sandy beaches and rocky cliffs is split down with old fishing villages such as San José, L..

El Menapier is a 106m long and 15m wide steamer now wrecked 4 miles south west of Fuengirola and 2.2 miles south from Punta de Calaburra in the coastal waters of Malaga province (Spain). She was constructed 1907 in England by William Doxford & Sons Ltd and at that time known as Lady Garrington. The owner on completion was Carrington S.S.Co Ltd (Williams & Mordey, Cardiff) but through various phases she was transferred to Lloyed Real Belga (LRB) and renamed to El Menapier. El Menapier sunk 17 November 1917 after collision with S/S Iddesleigh, while on passage from Villaricos to Gibraltar with an iron ore cargo. The depth, often poor visibility and possibility for strong currents create c..

La Laja de Almirante, also known as Laja de las Gorgonias for the abundance of the gorgonias found there, is located one mile off the coast, in front of Torre de Calahonda. The dive starts with a descent to the depth of 23 meters following the mooring line. At the bottom we find a large rock formation in form of a curving wall. Most of the wall is just a meter or two high, at places reaching height of 4 meters. Continuing the dive following the wall we can see how it is cluttered with holes and crevices that give protection to many marine species, such as big meros, brotolas and langostas. The wall is covered with algae, some interesting sponges and beautiful sea fans.

In the Malaga province in the southern Spain, just east from the fishing port of Marbella, 250m off the shore stands the Marbella Tower. It is a ruin of a mineral cargo loading tower built in 1950s where the iron ore brought from the mountain mines was stored waiting for the cargo ships. The tower was in active use until 1970s. The Tower stands on a little underwater hill at 6-10m over the sandy seabed at 11m. It is very compact little diving site with plenty of marine life. Tower walls are covered with little holes where you can find blennies, small crabs and nudibranch. The corners of the tower are covered with a Jewel anemone and several small scorpion fishes can normally be spotted ..

This dive site can be reached by taking the Almuñecar / La Herradura exit from A-7 and driving through the town. Take the main road towards the beach and follow it eastwards towards Punta de La Mona. The road would continue spiraling upwards through the hill to Marina del Este, but we will take one of the first turns right to find a small sandy parking place overlooking the bay. You can see a steep path descending towards a ledge where the dive starts. You can also reach the same site from the beach if you want to avoid carrying the kit downhill and taking the 1m high plunge into the sea. There can be plenty of divers on the site so try to be early. There is much better change for the sun..

Costa Tropical covers the coastal area of the Granada province (Spain), bordered by Almería in the east, Malaga in the west. Due to its special location affected by north African winds, Sierra Nevada mountain in North and the Mediterranean sea, the Costa Tropical has an unique microclimate with 320 sunny days a year and average temperature over 20 degrees. Best diving in Costa Tropical concentrate around the town of La Herradura and Puerto Deportivo of Marina del Este. La Herradura gets its name from the horseshoe shaped beach surrounded by rocky hills on both sides, Cerro Gordo on the west and Punta de La Mona on the east. Marina del Este can be accessed by taking the spiraling road t..

Tarifa is a lively small town on the southernmost tip of the European continent in the province of Cadiz (Spain). It is surrounded by The Parque Natural del Estrecho (Natural Park of the Strait) which protects the coastal areas from Gabo de Grazia on the west, all the way to the Ensenada de Getares near Algeciras. Most of the diving in Tarifa is done around the Isla de las Palomas, a small island connected to the town by an artificial breakwater walkway. Even tough Tarifa is famous for its winds and therefore loved by the kite-surfers, the island normally gives protection for the divers on both dominant winds - Poniente and Levante. The currents in Tarifa can really surprise you. The At..

Costa del Sol is a region of Andalusia in the southern Spain covering the coastal area of the Málaga province, bordered by Costa de La Luz in the west and Costa Tropical in the east. It includes the city of Málaga and many famous tourist resorts such as Estepona, Marbella, Fuengirola, Mijas, Benalmádena, Torremolinos and Nerja. Most of these towns have their own dive centres which do local diving and also organize trips to Tarifa, Gibraltar and La Herradura. Starting from East the, the Parque Natural de los Acantilados de Maro-Cerro Gordo in the municipality of Nerja has number of beautiful dive sites. Diving in the park is restricted so appropriate license is required from Jun..