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Diving in La Manga.
La Manga offers some of the best diving in Spain.
Boat diving brings dive sites such as La Laja, Isla Grosa, El Farallon and the Islas Hormigas marine reserve
within range. Shore diving you will
encounter abundant marine life and beautiful underwater scenery just
a short swim from the beach. Sites vary in maximum depth from
9-10 metres upwards - so there's something for all skill and
experience levels. Some of the dive sites also make for good
snorkelling.
Please also read through the
regulations for
diving in Murcia, Spain and how they effect you - minimum age, medical
certification and insurance requirements. |
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For divers
qualified to PADI Scuba Diver level or above. Guided by PADI scuba
instructor. Dive trips to sites in the La Manga area. Maximum
depth 18m. Fun diving - plenty to see - suitable for all
levels.
We will need to see your certification card and log
book before you dive with us. Please also read our
Diving in Spain page for local legal
requirements.
La Manga Dive School
offer a full equipment hire service. Our diving equipment is
regularly serviced. We use Scubapro regulators, Cressi & Subacqua BCD's.
We offer a choice of 15 / 12 litre tanks.
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Shore Dive Sites include:
- Cala Fria. Just south of the
lighthouse (Faro) in Cabo de Palos. Cala Fria is a gravel
beach at the foot of low cliffs. The south side of the bay
slopes steadily right from the shore - making this a particularly
good dive for beginners or experienced divers who haven't dived for
a while. The bottom is rocky for the first 50 metres or so
giving way to a mixture of sand, rocky reef and boulder field
further out. The mouth of the bay has several 'fields' of
posidonia (sea grass) - which offers food and shelter to small fish
and crustaceans. Fish commonly sighted during dives off Cala
Fria: damsel fish, longsnouted wrasse, rainbow wrasse, painted
comber, red mullet (goatfish), cow bream, two banded bream, white
bream. Maximum depth 8 / 9 metres.
- Cala Correo. Next cove heading
south west of Cala Fria. Cala Correo is a small gravel beach
at the foot of a staircase cut into a low cliff. The bay
itself is large and is sheltered to the South-East by a line of
large rocks which stand well clear of the water. Close to
shore, the bottom is rocks and reef with occasional patches of sand.
There is a good covering of posidonia - particularly in the
south-west quarter of the bay. The bottom drops away from 2-3
to 5-8 metres (depending on route) around 50m from the shore and the
composition changes to sand / gravel. This is a good area to
look for octopus, but you are also likely to see cardinal fish,
damsel fish, green wrasse, tube worms, sea cucumber, brill in
addition to the fish listed for Cala Fria. You will also see a
variety of sedentary creatures - sponges, sea urchins etc.
Beyond the rocks at the mouth of the bay, you will find a large sea
grass prairie dotted with large boulders and rocks. The bottom
slopes off to 18m here and if you're lucky you might spot barracuda,
moray eel, or larger fish such as dentex here.
- Cala Reona. Situated just to
the west of Cabo de Palos. Cala Reona is a sandy beach fringed
by mountains to the west and rocky shoreline stretching towards Cabo
de Palos to the east. Underwater, the bay alternates between
sandy patches and rocky reef covered with sea grass. The
conventional underwater route in and out follows a gently sloping
'canyon' out to a
sandy plain at the mouth of the bay with plenty of marine life to
enjoy on the way. Fish commonly seen on Cala Reona - white
bream, two banded bream, cow bream, red mullet, rainbow wrasse,
longsnouted wrasse, damsel fish. White bream and bait fish
occasionally congregate in
large shoals here, making the dive an unforgettable experience. Like Cala Fria,
this is a good dive for beginners or experienced divers who want to
check equipment or weighting. Maximum depth around 10 metres.
Contact us
to make a booking
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A range of quality dive sites are available in the La Manga area. Dive sites are subject to availability (Islas Hormigas
marine reserve), certification level and diving experience. Diving
trips
to Isla Grosa, El Farallon, La Laja are suitable for all levels of
certified diver. But some of the dives further afield, in
particular the wrecks, require extra training and experience. If
you book a boat dive, you will need to show us proof of certification
and experience (logged dives) before we take you out. In addition,
please read our Diving in Spain page for local
legal requirements.
Boat
Dive Sites include:
- Isla Grosa - large island in the mediterranean to the east of
Puerto Tomás Maestre. Protected area for bird life today (third
largest population of Audouin's Gull in Spain), refuge for pirates
in the 17th century and volcano in ancient times, Isla Grosa has an
interesting history.
Marine life includes the usual smaller wrasse and bream plus a
variety of sponge, tube worm and plant life. Underwater
topography is interesting - lots of large boulders / rocks strewn
around, several pretty gullies in the cliff face and best of all a
couple of caverns. Maximum depth around 12 to 14 metres.
Great diving for all levels.
- El Farallon - small island neighbouring Isla Grosa. Used
to be used for target practice by the Spanish armed forces - which
probably contributed to its interesting shape today. This
practice was abandoned quite recently (c.2000) and now the area makes a
fascinating dive site with its shelving floor, shoals of bream and salpe and occasional sightings of schooling barracuda. Also a
good spot for smaller nudibranchs.
- La Laja - submerged island to North-east of El Farallon.
La Laja has a number of 'peaks' that come within 1-2 metres of the
surface and stretches around 50 metres North to South. The
reef is bounded by a canyon (max depth ~20m) to the north and a drop-off
(max depth ~18m) to the east.
Recently the subject of an underwater archeological survey
(Phoenician / Roman trade routes crossed this area in ancient times), La Laja
attracts an abundance of marine life ranging from smaller damsels
and cardinal fish to larger predators like moray eels and dentex.
- Islas Hormigas marine reserve - where fishing is off limits,
diving is restricted and permission to dive must be obtained in
advance. We can arrange all this - though obviously there is
competition for places so early booking is recommended. The dives are around submerged islands
/ underwater mountains and have a reputation for breathtaking
scenery, bio-diversity, large
grouper, barracuda, brown meagre (corvina), schools of bait fish and the occasional pelagic
visitor. Sites we visit most frequently in the reserve are
Piles 1, Piles 2 and Bajo de Dentro. In addition to the
general features just mentioned, Piles 1 is great for spotted Doris
- a beautiful white and dark brown / black nudibranch. Piles 2
seems the best for large grouper. Bajo de Dentro has a
fantastic cavern at about 22m and a vertigo inducing 'peak' at a
depth of around 5m. Routes round the dive sites can be varied
according to certification level and experience, but competent
buoyancy control is important for any of the dives. If you are
not confident regarding your buoyancy control, we recommend a check
dive first (easy boat or shore dive - contact
us to discuss).
- Isla Gomera or El Naranjito - the best known wreck dive in the
area. Situated just outside the Islas Hormigas marine reserve
and not far from Cabo de Palos port, El Naranjito sank when her
cargo of oranges shifted during a storm in 1946. The wreck is
in very good condition and offers food and shelter to an abundance
of marine life. There is a shot line anchored to the bow of
the wreck at a depth of about 27 metres. The depth alone makes
this a dive for PADI Advanced or above.
- Turia - less well known, but impressive for its solitude and
desolation. Turia is a wooden minesweeper which was sunk as an
artificial reef, around 10 years ago. The hull is split and
lies in two large pieces on the seabed, surrounded by smaller bits
of wreckage. Again the remains are used for shelter and
protection by local marine life, making for an enjoyable dive.
PADI Advanced or above required for this dive.
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La Manga Dive School offer a full equipment hire service.
Our diving equipment is regularly serviced. We use Scubapro
regulators, Cressi & Subacqua BCD's. We offer a choice of 15 / 12 litre
tanks. If you want to book a boat dive with us but are based on the
mainland, we can pick you up from Santiago de la Ribera (near Murcia
- San
Javier Airport) in our RIB.
Contact us
to make a booking
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Briefly there are 3 legal requirements for scuba diving in Murcia:
- You must be over 16 - more info.
- You must be medically fit to dive - more info.
- You must have valid diving accident insurance -
more info.
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Spanish Law states you must be over 16 years of age to engage in scuba diving activities
in Spain. Some autonomous regional governments have passed their
own laws to relax this limit - but you must still be over 16 to dive in
Murcia.
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If you are already certified and just want to dive with us, we’ll ask
you to complete the standard RSTC (PADI) medical statement before you
dive. As per normal procedure, if you answer ‘no’ to all the questions
- no problem. If the honest answer to any question is ‘yes’, please
have a medical examination (for your own safety) and get your doctor to
complete and sign his section of the form before you come to dive.
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The law in Murcia requires that you carry personal diving
insurance which covers you for accidents while scuba diving.
If you want to
dive, but don't have insurance, we can arrange it for you. We work with
Diveassure, who
offer daily, weekly, monthly and annual insurance at a reasonable cost
(5, 10, 15, 35€ respectively). If you have your own insurance, please
check with your insurers regarding cover while diving in Spain. Spanish
law (though no-one enforces it) states that divers must have a medical
examination every two years.
Diveassure
cover
is valid in Spain for self-certification - eg if you have completed the
RSTC (PADI) medical statement.
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Min age 9 years.
All equipment provided. Introduction to equipment and techniques. Guided tour of site.
Supervision by
PADI diving instructor.
Like the
dives, our snorkelling trips go
from shore or boat. From shore (minimum of two people), we offer
snorkelling in the Mar Menor,
(near Puerto Tomás Maestre) or in the Mediterranean near Cabo de Palos – a small fishing village at the
south-eastern corner of the Murcia region. By boat (maximum of
eight people), we offer trips to the islands near Puerto Tomás Maestre -
you can choose between Mar Menor and Mediterranean (depending on sea
conditions).
Contact us
to make a booking
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