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l'Estartit - Spain : 9th September 1998 by Dave Roberts
L'Estartit, Mediterranean, Spain - 30 August to 5 September
Introduction
For those that don't know (and I didn't) what the set up is over there, then I'll try to explain:-
L'Estartit is a bit of a tourist area aimed at the middle to old age set who want some cheap (from the UK) sun, and the younger generation that was a cheap place to party. It is part of the Costa Brava, so peace and quiet, you would not expect, but despite that, and despite having about 10 pubs across the square from the hotel, we didn't suffer any evenings of loud behaviour or drunken riots. It was suprisingly quiet. Course, it was off season, so that may have helped.
The Medas Islands
The focal point of the diving from l'Estartit is around a group of small islands, called the Medas Islands. These are very near to l'Estartit, and could even be reached by one of those pedalo things in about an hour - if you are that way inclined. By boat, it takes about 10 minutes at about 7 knots. There are about 5 islands in total, with Meda Gran being the biggest, Meda Petita being the next largest, and a few more islands, plus pinnacles and small rises.
There are 8 bouys around the groups of the islands that dive boats are allowed to hang off. These are the only points that boats can "anchor" up, and strong fines are the incentive against doing it on your own. You need a permit to take divers, you have to report the number of divers, and you're limited to (I think) 400 divers a day - total - for all the dive operators.
These 8 points give access to very different diving, which can mostly handle anyone with almost any qualification - almost. More on that later. There is also other off shore diving in the form of a couple of wrecks and some canyons - but the weather never really settled to allow us to do that, thankyou hurricane Bonnie.
The fish life
I had heard a lot about the prolific life around the Medas Islands, as being the best in the Med., but not having dived any where else in the Med. I didn't know what to expect anyway. But it was abundant. I couldn't name it all, as I'm no fish expert - I'm getting to know the stuff at home, but I have books on those. All the fish ID cards in the shops were in Catalan/Latin. However, the stuff I did recognise was enough: from shoals of anthias and chromis, to shoals of glass fish, barracudas, bream and ling. I think it was the bream that are the custodians of the Medas Islands. They would follow you for
practically your whole dive (and undoutedly report bad bouyancy to the Guardia Civil). We saw an octopus about every other dive, although only one was free swimming - and it didn't hang around to be man handled by anyone. There were also large (to me) Scorpion Fish that seem to think that they haven't been spotted even when 2 UK400's are shining on them.
And finally the groupers. The pictures are true, they are huge. Some specimins were upto 4ft, maybe 5ft long, but again, being the end of the season, seemed to have lost their patience with divers, and although were still curious, mostly kept their distance.
Highlight of the week was a passing cluster of Eagle Rays. The viz was only about 8-10m at this point, so we went swimming after them. With that, a large one split off from the lead to circle round the smaller ones, putting itself between us and its (presumed) offspring. We got the message and hung back. My photos were limited, as my housing flooded on dive 3, and I don't have the slides back from the ones that I did take.
Some dive sites
PEDRA DE DEU - North side of the main island called Meda Gran. You follow the wall to a point on the island where another pinnacle comes up and breaches the surface. This site is absolutely crammed with gorgonians, both yellow and red (blue/green without a torch).
Scalefin anthias, and chromis' were abundant. Beyond the pinnacle, at 20m there's a canyon which drops straight down to 43m. This canyon is only 5m wide, so a buddy pair can "free fall" into it for a surreal feeling, to the depth of their choosing. At the bottom it's sandy, with less life and having passed through 2 thermoclines, a lot lot colder, about 16C compared with 23C in the first 10m. The bream didn't follow, I think they preferred the warmer water. Due to southerly winds over the course of the week, we ended up doing this site 3 times. Each time was good, with many different things to see.
DOLFI SUD - On the south side of Meda Gran, a site that consists of a lot of boulders off the edge of the island, and some tunnels going through a peninsula of the island. On this side of one of the tunnels is a small statue of a dolphin (hence the name). And is shown in all the magazine reports about this place, as well as many brochures. The tunnel starts at 12m and goes up to 6m on the north side. It's short, and the far end can be seen from the entrance. Off to the east a longer tunnel exists, but still the exit can clearly be seen. Actually, this one was more like a long chamber as opposed to a tunnel. Very big, and wide and roomy. Again lots of life, with some groupers mulling around.
LA VACA - Apparently listed as a nice beginners cave dive. What makes a beginners cave dive I don't know - especially when nearly everyone is on a single tank of air, with no redundant air supply, let alone extra long hoses for their octopus, let alone reels for laying lines! We took a tentative look anyway, and found many entrances that only lead inside for a few metres before hitting a dead end. One that we did find that lead inside started off big, before hitting a narrow point big enough for one person. Looking through this gap, I could see into a large chamber which was big enough for the torches to just make out the far end. I believe that I could see multiple possible exit points from the chamber, and therefore it was not a place for unexperienced people like myself to enter. We turned back and went outside to look at other life in a safer environment. Back on the boat, we apparently had found the wrong cave. The right one is
further along the wall and about 20m wide all the way through to the other side, even so, I don't think I'd have gone into that one either.
FARRANELLES - A strange one where the bouy is in 20m of water, and the site that you swim to is between 6 and 10m. So to get your navigation right in the medium viz, you end up with a bizarre down-up-pause-down-up profile. This dive was amazing though.
Shallow enough that the air lasts forever (although you're asked to be back on the boat within an hour), with loads and loads of life. This is the dive that we saw the Eagle Rays, an octopus, yellow snappers, bream, ling, little blue things, little red things, a darkening cloud of glass fish, a shoal of barracuda that circled us, and many many more. Next thing was a glass bottomed boat. We were only in 6m, when I spotted it out of the corner of my eye. Loads of European
non-diving tourists trying to pick out the fish in a hideous yellow dual-hulled bus of a barge. I think the captain shut the props off when we were spotted - I think that's supposed to be a compromise. My buddy waved to the kids, I gave the bird and we swam off to beyond the viz range.
Other sites were similar and different. And all were teaming with life. Only on the last dive did I see two beautiful neon blue
nudibranchs. The only 2 that I'd spotted over the week. Shame about the camera - but I'd have certainly had my wide angle lens anyway.
La Sirena
The whole thing was organised through La Sirena Diving Centre, who have a UK presence. The UK side of La Sirena, done by Mike and Gail was pretty slick. Gail did all our admin and arranged the flight (Stansted to Girona was all that was left 6 weeks prior to departure) and transport to/from the airport for us. Mike looked after us whilst we were out there, and kept us informed of what was going on. We also opted for half-board accomodation at the Hotel Flamingo, with a 10 dive package.
A good service with friendly and helpful staff. The boats left on time (mostly), the air fills were consistent, although it tasted quite different to what I am used to. They picked us up and dropped us off at the hotel, with little or no messing about. The boats were ample size, only felt cramped once, and were clean and tidy. Cylinders were 12 or 15 litre, and filled to 200 bar. The 15 litre one had a twin exit valve.
One chap called Gilbert is unreal. From the Flemish part of Belgium, he speaks 5 languages fluently (as far as I could tell they were: Flemish, French, Spanish, English and German. He seemed to be able to speak a little Dutch as well, plus another one I couldn't make out.
The Hotel Flamingo is good value. Those after their normal mod cons will be disappointed, but if you're used to Spanish hotels, then this one is just fine. The rooms were ample size, the beds were comfy enough, the shower worked with hot water than never ran out, and the air conditioning worked and above all, was quiet. The food was an all you can eat, buffet style, and was a mixture of styles, but nothing to upset the British die hards. There were 3 secure equipment rooms where you could wash your gear, and hang it up to dry. These are specifically set aside for divers only. It was in short very good value for money.
If I was going to l'Estartit again - and I probably will when I run out of other places around the would - I'd go with La Sirena. Those based in the UK, can see them at the October Dive show at the Birmingham NEC. Otherwise, you could call or fax them in the UK on 017684 83143, in Spain on 929 435515, or email them at sirenauk@aol.com.
- Dave.