Medes Isles, L'Estartit

[wacky28]

I have just got back from a family holiday in L’Estartit, Spain, it was booked up by my wife, I had never heard of it before. When I asked around a bit, a friend recommended Calypso Diving, (Calypso Estartit S.L. - Jacqueline Lane [calypso@grn.es] ) for diving on the Medes Islands Nature reserve.

For those who don’t know ( Me ! ) the islands were heavily fished until the 1980’s when the government made the area a Nature Reserve, fishing is banned & diving is allowed on a controlled basis. It is a strict “No Take Zone”.

The diving was absolutely superb, I managed to get in 6 dives, all on the nature reserve. The resort itself is nice, good family orientated place, with lots of French, Dutch & Spanish people. It is well known for camping, with lots of sites on the road into the resort.

The older teenagers in our group struggled, as everything quietens down at 12 –1 ish, & there are only a few disco type nightclubs. Suits a grump like me tho !

Dive Sites

Farranells

This was my first & last site I dived during my holiday. It is a site off the main island, which involves diving a gradual slope, from the shore of the island down to the seabed. You swim the length of the slope, away from the boat & turn & ascend at a given point, a large rock.

On the first dive we swam away from the boat a little, descended to 28m, & as we approached the bottom, I saw a big octopus running from rock to rock. The rest of the dive was the same as this, every rock was either covered in Gorgonians or had a huge Groper or Scorpion fish living underneath it. The entire dive was filled with fish, look up there were Sea Bream, look down, anthias or Parrot Wrasse. Real brilliant site. Easy to dive, follow the sun out & keep it behind you on the way back in! The shallow part of the dive probably had the most marine life, as the smaller rocks that had fallen from the islands were here, giving shelter & homes to every possibly fish you could see in the Reserve.

Media Petite[/u]
During the briefing we were told to carry out quite a long surface swim, descend to 10m & swim between the islands, away from the boat, with the larger island on our left. Then follow the slope down to about 26m & follow the contour of the island. Turn at 100 bar, ascend & follow the rocks back to open water. Also, the guide said the site was known for the Eagle Rays, yeah whatever!

This was the best dive of the holiday, we followed the plan & saw the biggest Groupers so far, 3 or 4 octopus & we had a Sea Bream swim in between us for biggest part of the dive. When we hit the turning point, the guy I was with spotted the Eagle Rays, swimming about 10 m from us. We stopped for a few minutes as they swam around us checking us out before ascending to a rocky area & following the island back around. The light was perfect on the dive, with the viz over 30m, as we could easily see the surface from the deepest part of the dive.

La Vaca

This came recommended as one of the best sites. It’s a dive in an L shaped cove, with the dive running along a wall at approx 14m. At the end of the L there is a large swim through, about 20 m long with the walls covered in Gorgonians. Then it’s a drop to the seabed around the corner, back on yourself, to follow the wall back at around 23m.

On the seabed there are a few largish boulders to check out with, the usual suspects present, Large Dusky Groupers, Octopus, Parrot wrasse, Sea Bream, Anthias etc. We swam back toward the boat, then passed it & ascended up the wall to another cave at around 10m. We were asked not to go in here, as it was full of silt.

Tascons Petite
Similar to the Faranells site, where the dive was on a slope, running the length of the islands. We dropped in at approx 30 m, which was fairly flat with a few small rocks. We swam toward the shore, then turned at a large boulder ascended up the slope to 12 – 14 m back toward the boat.

When we got to the turning point we swam a little passed it, as there was another small outcrop of rocks. Glad we did, as there was a nice big Moray hiding in the holes. The better part of the dive was on the shallow area, which was covered with smaller boulders. Again, everything you looked under had Groupers, Sea Bream, Octopus., as well as huge shoals of anthias & wrasse. As we completed the safety stop a large shoal of something swam passed with 2 Barracudas nipping in & out of.

Medallot
This site was just off the min island & was a large cone, sticking out of the sea. The dive was just to swim around it as many times as you liked. We dropped to the seabed at 35m & swam quietly around the site, ascending a little as we went, so we managed 2 full circuits.

The face of the rock was covered in parts in Gorgonians & every hole you looked in had a little face peering back at you.

The Dive Centre
I used Calypso, as they had come recommended by a friend. I contacted them before going & had good communication. Peter Lane & his wife Jacqueline run the dive centre. Really nice helpful people. They run a 5 star PADI resort with an old fishing boat ( Calypso 2 ) converted for diving. They have a good selection of hire gear ( I used this as my missus took 12 pairs of shoes, yep 12 ! ). The gear is mainly Mares / ScubaPro basic kit, but it was all in good nick & the only gear issues on the boat were with Divers own kit.

They advised me on the Medical which was needed & due to the poor response off of my own quack, they arranged it with a local Doctor that they use. Apparently it is part of the Spanish law that everyone undergoes this. Cost me 40 Euro, lasts for 2 years. Basic med check, height, weight, heart rate, before & after exercise, flow rates etc.


Pete is a bit of a character, ex commercial diver, lived is Spain for 35 years, spoke loads of languages. Impressed me with his knowledge of the sites & if you followed his advice you were guaranteed to see all of the main attractions. He gave briefings in English, Spanish, and French & even spoke to one group in Russian, to a round of applause. When asked to speak Welsh I was told to, “‘uck off”

From what the guys at Calypso said, they can only take around 40 people per day to the site, normally in the morning at 9 & 11 o’clock, as diving is heavily monitored. Afternoon diving is generally along the coast. They buddied people up in order of experience / qualification, so if you booked an unescorted dive you would dive with someone of similar experience. Newly qualified up to AOW had to dive with a guide.

But all in all, as a family we had a great time in L’Estartit, the beach was close by, when went into Lloret for the Aqua Park, did a bit of Karting & the diving was top class. Loads of restaurants to choose from, plenty of choice too & the best ones sold Magners .

Regards
Steve

[purple vonny]

Nice report Steve, thanks! Eagle rays and 30m vis! Wow! it sounds lovely.

I've read about L'estartit and by the sounds of it, it lives up to its reputation as being a wonderful place.

[Malachy]

L'escala just up the coast is a lovely resort also . I dived there last year with Kenna eco divers and went with the local dive company to the Medes . It is good diving for sure and had big Napolean Wrasse when I was there . Resort is recommended also .

[Timbo]

Originally Posted by Malachy

L'escala just up the coast is a lovely resort also . I dived there last year with Kenna eco divers and went with the local dive company to the Medes . It is good diving for sure and had big Napolean Wrasse when I was there . Resort is recommended also .

Med Dive