Diving Torrevieja
Just off the coast of Torrevieja on the southern Costa Blanca there is a
variety of wreck and reef diving in a region already popular with
Spanish divers.
Most of the scuba diving is situated in La Manga and Cabo de Palos close
to the marine reserve Islas Hormigas. Here there are minimum
temperatures of 13șC in winter and over 29șC in the summer with an
average visibility of 15 to 25 meters. The underwater scenery is
spectacular with dive sites for both advanced divers and for beginners.
Starting at the very tip of Cabo de Palos you'll find the rocky bays of
Cala Fria and Cala Muerta. Here are some interesting sites for the
beginner and also for the experienced diver who wants to do some relaxed
diving during his holidays.
 With depth varying from 6 to 20 meters and all kinds of rock formations
you can see an amazing amount of underwater life. As soon as you
descend you will see big shoals of varied kind of fish. In the shallow
part of the bays lie fields of ocean gorgonians which brings shoals of
salaam and sergeant fish.
Swimming over and looking between all the rocks lying on the bottom you
can spot the octopus trying to hide from the intruders into their world.
You might also see brown rays lying on the sandy parts of the bottom
while you're passing by.
Swimming along the walls you'll come across the morays, with their
beautiful golden spots, sticking their heads out of their holes. Also
the conger eel lives in this area. Going through one of the swim troughs
of just a few meters you will get a drop-off to about 15 meters. Passing
some big rocks you arrive at the "Sharkmouth" which named because of its
shape which looks like a shark facing up with jaws open and waiting to
attack.
 Here you'll observe a wide variety of fish, small ones in shoals of
hundreds or thousands, and the bigger ones like the grouper with a size
of 50 cm up to more than a metre. Don’t forget everything underwater
looks 25% bigger because of the density of the water.
Further on we arrive at another longer swim through which reaches 18
meters. In this area while hovering above the rock formations you can
spot the groupers lying on the rocks but hiding as soon as they are aware
of divers. Around these small canyons you can spend hours watching the
fascinating underwater life. Octopus, moray eels, groupers, poisonous
stonefish and small rays are quite common and if you take the time to
look up now and then you can spot barracudas circling around the top of
the rocks.
 In the other bay there is some good diving for divers of all standards
following the wall at a depth of 3 to 10 meters and a visibility of
10-15 meters. This shallow depth allows you to take underwater pictures
to show your friends when you return from your holidays.
All the way along the wall at the end we leave the bay through a narrow
gap and you can choose to go left around the cliff or right around a
small reef and again you have the change to spot a large octopus, morays
or groupers amongst all the small sealife. There are also rays on the
sandy part of the bottom and the barracudas at the top of the reef. On
the way back you can
visit the wreck of a catamaran that was destroyed on the rocks during a
storm.
Bajo el Dentro is one of the most popular reefs in the marine
reserve where you can see huge morays lying on the rocks or in
the sea grass and big shoals of barracudas as well as gigantic groupers
hanging at a depth of around 20 meters. Because of the depths involved
and the strong currents this site is only for experienced divers.
 In
the surrounding blue waters you can see eagle rays passing by and
sunfish hanging still in the light of entering sun. Around 35 metes there are amazing red gorgons
and even more enormous looking
groupers. On the side of the wall there is a small cave you can easily
enter and then leave via the top opening. If your lucky day you
might meet a dolphin or a turtle or a the occasional shark which still
inhabits this part of the Mediterranean.
 One of the
most interesting wrecks in this area is the Naranjito. The Naranjito
was a 50 metre freighter which sank carrying its freight of oranges
(hence its name). This wreck lies about 3 km out of
Cabo de Palos. With a average visibility of 20 metres and the good
conditions of the wreck it is in a nice spot for divers who like wreck
diving but is only recommended for advanced divers as it starts at a depth of 27 meters and the prop lies
at a serious
depth of 42 meters and sometimes there are really strong currents around
the wreck which are not always noticed from the surface. On the wreck you
can enter the load compartments safely and meet the congers, sunfish,
barracudas or shoals of other smaller species
For easier and more relaxing dive sites the area around Cartagena
is highly recommended. Here you can find several dive sites where you can find lots of stonefish, morays and octopus. One
of the interesting things about this area is that sometimes you can find
relics from ancient times like pieces of old pottery, copper nails
or pieces of lead from the wooden ships that have sunk while attacking
the nearby harbour of Cartagena.
For more information about diving in the southern Costa Blanca please
contact
Dive Costa Blanca at:
Contact Details:
Scubaworld
Playa Flamenca
Orihuela Costa
Tel: (+34) 667057640
Email:
info@divecostablanca.com
Web: www.divecostablanca.com |
