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DIVE SITES
REEF DIVES
CABO DE PALOS (shore dive)
At the far end of cabo de palos stands a light house facing out to the Island of Hermigas,marine park.The dive sites here are very interesting with lots of rock formation and swim throughs,the fish life is abundant,with many octopus,groupers,scorpion fish,and shoals of sergeant fish and salema.The MAX DEPTH is 18 METERS,with a nice slow walk down the steps and and a entry walk in to the water.This is a good all round dive site for beginners,and experienced.
Islas Hormigas Marine Park Divesites.(Boat dive)
Bajo del Piles I.
Access - From Cabo de Palos set course for Las Islas Hormigas for 1.5 miles then you turn towards La Manga crossing Piles.
Description:
Bajo del Piles consists of two separate rocky spines extending towards the islas Hormigas.The main spine is some 75m long with the two summits at 7m & 9m & can be clearly seen from the boat in the clear waters. The average depth of the crest is deeper between 12 & 15m. The spine rises from the sandy seabed of 27m at the south whilst the northern tip drops to only 23m.
The second spine is a continuation of the primary & lies parallel to it. It is 9m at its shallowest, with a similar average depth. The seabed is somewhat deeper at around 30m at the southern end.
Both spines are limited in marine flora but this is made up for by the vast array of marine life. The primary spine is renowned for the size & quantity of its indigenous Moray eel population, who share the rocks with Scorpion fish, Mojarras and groupers. The smaller spine attracts larger shoals of mojarra not to mention Barracuda, Cod and large groupers. Neither spine is subject to significant currents but from time to time can be blown out by the wind.!
Bajo de Piles II.(Boat dive)
Description:
The second and smaller of the rocky piles spines. It is a sheltered dive with regard to current but can be vunerable to wind. This bar is home to Barracuda, Morjarra, Cod & several large Groupers. To the north and north west of both spines are numerous rocky blocks, which form a labyrinthine home for large Groupers & Eels. In general these are easy, pleasant dives suitable for most levels of divers but care must be taken not to become disorientated, especially around the rocky blocks.
Minimum depth 9m, maximum depth 30m.
Bajo de Dentro.(Boat dive)
Description:
Access - From Cabo de Palos set course for Islas Hormigas, de Dentro lies exactly 4 km from port, within the marine reserve of Islas Hormigas & takes about 10-15 minutes to reach by the RIB. Bajo de Dentro is a rocky outcrop that rises from the sandy seabed at 50m at the tip of it’s southern spine to just 4m at its central point. The northern side comprises of gently sloping platform some 20-30m in length which lies in 12-16m of water. Both the eastern & western sides comprise of steep walls though the easterly wall is almost vertical & deeper. Both faces have caves & are around 20m & 40m respectively.
Because of the currents that wash this pinnacle, and its protected status, it is rich in both marine flora and fauna. There are large schools of both sea perch, Chromis, Corva, Bream & Mojarra, which in turn attract shoals of Barracuda, Groupers & Dentex. Amongst the rocks lies sanctuary for Scorpion fish, Brotala, Lobsters, Moray and Conger Eels. There is also an abundance of soft corals such as Gorgonias. You can occasionally spot eagle rays, sunfish & maybe turtles
CALA CORTINA (Shore dive)
CALA CORTINA,is on the other side of the port in cartagana.This is an excellent dive site for try dives and courses for the (OCEANDIVER) we teach. The site is a walk in entry,with a sandy bottom.Depths start from 2 meters down to 10 meters,lots of fish life octopus,stingray,nudibranch,moray,flying gurnards,and one of my favorite,sea horses, It really is a good place to experience your first sea dive.
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WRECK DIVES IN CABO DE PALOS
The Isla Gomera/ El Naranjito.(Boat dive)
More commonly known as El Naranjito due to its final, fatal cargo- thousands of oranges. These violently shifted in a storm causing the boat to list & take on water whilst the majority of the crew swam to the shore the Isla Gomera slowly slipped under the sea, even losing its cargo, which littered local shores for weeks to come. A very nice wreck dive and some good penetration areas around the engine room which is home to some big conger eels.
Depth 28- 45m.
Level: Advanced
The Turia and Ulla.(Boat dive)
On Wednesday 28thJ uly 1999 2 new wrecks appeared at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea between Cabo de Palos & Isla Grosa. These new wrecks were first used as minesweepers for the US Navy in the 1950 s & was decommissioned, stripped & cleaned ready for their final role as a home for both divers and fish.
The wrecks lie 300 metres appart on the sloping seabed, with their bow at around 35m and stern at some 31m. The top of the bridge of the Turia was damaged during the sinking and now lies on the bed off the ships port side. This leaves the highest point at a depth of around 21/22m. The Ulla is reletavley in tact.
Already the shelter provided by the wrecks has attracted lots of small schooling fish (Anchovies, Sardines etc.), which have in turn attracted larger predatory fish such as Mackerel and larger Bream. And as time goes on a wider range of fish have been attracted to the site, including visits by a solitary 2m long Sunfish.
Situated in a relatively sheltered position, with good visibility (12m-30m)
Depth range:21-35meters
Level: Advanced
.Lilla/ Carbonero(Boat dive)
The Italian Steamship Lilla was torpedoed & sank by a german submarine approximatley 10 kilometeres east of Thomas Mastre Port along La Manga Strip on the 13th of October 1917. The first name of this ship was the Thordisa & later changed its name to Lilla. The wreck lies upright on a sand bottom with a maximum depth of 45 metres & the deck lies at approximatley 35 metres so makes a great Nitrox Dive. The wreck is split in two near to the engine room which you can swim through & has lots of growth & life on due to the amount of time it has been sank. You can find some big conger eels living in the engine room, lots of jacks & comon dentex feeding off smaller shoals & sometimes sun fish on the ascent line! We named this wreck due to the cargo it was carrying of coal which in spanish is Carbonero .Due to its distance from shore the visibility is usually 25 metres or more...
Depth range: 35-45 metres
Level: Advanced
SS Stanfield.(Boat dive)
Buit in the year 1899 by Thompson, J.L, former owners:
Co Ltd (J.Brown), Liverpool; 1899 under the name "Stanfield" ;
After the report in the New York Times it was torpedoed by a German submarine on 26th june 1916 and sank just outside of the Islas Hormigas Marine reserve in a depth of 62 metres. The 120 meter long wreck lies upright and must have sunk and impacted the sandy bottom bow first as there is lots of damage to the bow as it is split open and can be penetrated into 3 different level decks which continue into hold 1 of the ship. It is a heavily encrusted wreck and has the torpedo blast area on the port side just behind hold 1 which has split the wreck in two, in this area you can find some fantastic red and black gorgonians. As you continue along the top deck at 45 metres you pass another hold and then reach the captains deck which is a very interesting area to penetrate. Swimming toward the stern there is another 2 cargo holds and a chimney where there is a spare propeller lying on deck. As you swim to the very stern swim down to the huge propeller which is a fantastic sight to see.Because of its depth this wreck is only recommended to dive as a technical dive only and is hard to cover in one dive.
Depth:45-62 metres
Level:Technical dive with decompression
TABARCA ISLAND (Boat dive)
TABARCA ISLAND,just of santapola. This is a great dive location if you have time on your holiday.Tabarca is a marine reserve which is protected from any one fishing or diving there unless you have permission.We can get permission to dive there but it can take up to one week for the paper work to come through,so if you are on a 2 week holiday let us know before hand so we can prepare all the paper work for you. (WHAT WE NEED FOM YOU, TO DIVE TABARCA) PASSPORT,DIVERS CERTIFACTION,AND DIVE INSURANCE.We can provide the insurance if you have none.
We dive on the north of the Island were the light house stands the depths start from 5 meters and can go down to 35 meters depending on dive certification.Because it is a reserve the fish life here is abundant, with shoals of fish life like barracuda,big big grouper,mola mola, and morays.All the dives are from boat,so we can get you to the best dive sites, great diving for all certification of divers.
NEW WRECKS ROUND TABARCA
SS Mardinian:
Gross weight 3322 tons, built in 1913 by W. Harkess & Sons, Ltd. Middlesborough. She was operated by Ellerman Lines Ltd. of Liverpool .
She was torpedoed on the 19th May 1917 by U34 carrying general cargo. She was en-route from Calicut to London
She lays on her keel in an upright position and a stern gun can be clearly seen surrounded by old fishing nets.
The positive identification was made by a plate recovered from the wreck along with the beam measurement.
SS Ville De Verdun:
4500 ton French steamer sunk by u34 on the 6 Feb. 1918
She lays in 55M of water on her starboard side. She has 3 guns and is fairly in-tact. Entering her can be done but caution is required due to the levels of silt on the seabed. The massive con-rods can be seen clearly within in the wreck. The large 4-bladed propeller can be seen resting on the seabed.
The positive identification was made by Stuart when he discovered the name plate on the bow of the wreck.
UNKNOWN WRECK 75M
Stuart Miles and a team of technical divers successfully dive a new wreck in february 2010. This Wreck lies in 75 meters is upright and very intact it has yet to be identified but we hope to achive this on the june 2010 trip
UNKNOWN WRECK 112M
Details of this wreck will be published once we have dived this again and have more information
A number of other wrecks are known to Stuart, and he intends to explore these wrecks during the exploration weeks - see 'Diving' for available date.
Watch this space as any new discoveries will be added to this page
Watch this space as any new discoveries will be added to this page