Cabo de Palos, Murcia, Costa Blanca
by Rob Robertson


Cabo de Palos is a small fishing and holiday village at the southern end of the Mar Menor and La Manga, about an hour south from Alicante. The main diving area is in the marine reserve area of Islas Hormigas. Cabo de Palos is a popular diving destination for Spanish divers, there are 5 or 6 diving operations around the marina.

I had visited this area a few times and had been impressed with the diving. This trip in March 2007 was intended as a tryout to see what other club members felt and whether the diving was worth the cost, time and effort at this time of the year. It was also the first dive trip for a few months for all of us.













































Itinerary/Brief Diary:

Thurs: Gatwick at 11am; 21/2 hours flight arriving at San Javier airport, Murcia around 5pm. Dump the gear in Mar de Cristal apartments and go shopping for essentials (gin, beer bread and milk). Visit the dive shop, check out the dive boats and harbour, have a beer, in Cabo de Palos. Evening meal in La Tana overlooking the harbour: La Tana Website

Fri: 9am - check in for diving; Sort paperwork, get weight belts, assemble gear.
Dive brief. Load boat - 15m across the road, using a trolley.
Dive1 - Bajo de Dentro.
Change into shorts etc. Coffee/snacks/sunbathe outside bar nearby.
Dive2 - Bajo de Fuera
Rinse gear and leave to dry on Planeta's racks. Have beer.
Return to apartment, snooze, have drinks, shower.
Dinner in Zorro's, Los Belones - 5 mins away.

Sat: 8am - check in for diving - It's the weekend and the Spanish divers are here in numbers filling the place.
Dive3 - Naranjito
Change into shorts etc. Coffee/snacks/sunbathe outside bar nearby.
Dive4 - Piles Dos
Leave gear to dry. Have beer and tapas.
Pick up gear and leave to dry overnight on the roof terrace.
Dinner in Miramar, Cabo de Palos.

Sun: Doss around, tidy up, pack most of gear.
Lunch: beers and tapas at Pepe's on the beach front, Mar de Cristal, 10 minutes walk.
Final pack. Leave for airport at 3pm.
Arrive Gatwick 7pm.

Diving:
The diving was done with Planeta Azul. They have 2 large ribs with bottle racks and ladders each of which can handle around 12 divers easily.

They have changing rooms with showers, various rinse tanks for neoprene, regs, computers, cameras etc., outside kitting up area with racks for hanging gear (these are wheeled in at night).
The diving includes 15l or 12l tanks.
All the dive sites are within 10mins of the harbour entrance.
All had fixed shotlines/mooring buoys.
Most are within the Islas Hormigas marine reserve. The wreck 'Naranjito', real name Isla de la Gomera is 5mins straight out from the harbour.
All of the dives had strong current on the top of the shotlines.
The first 2 had swell on top of the reef around the shot, the viz was average because of the recent poor weather conditions but still somewhat better than Littlehampton in say June. The temperature was about 14°C, in the water; 22°C on the surface. Most of us were happy in semis but 2 dived in drysuits. It was possible to get a little cold on the rib after a dive but we were back in the harbour in 10 minutes.

Dive1 - Bajo de Dentro.
Reef dive. Pinnacle with shot at about 6m.
Lots of life - groupers, various shoals of unidentified fish. I counted 8 morays. Octopus.

Dive2 - Bajo de Fuera.
Reef and wreck. Pinnacle with shot at about 9m.
As above but with several wrecks. The only one we saw is fairly broken up at about 20m. The most famous one, The Sirio, which has been called 'the Titanic of the Mediterranean' is at 60m.

Dive3 - Naranjito
Intact wreck with shot tied to bows at 27m. Propeller at 40m. Shoals of fish, congers, morays and sunfish. Plenty of easy swim throughs. Needs deco if you go to 37m, do swim throughs and the whole wreck. See the pics and a video: Here

Dive4 - Piles Dos.
Wedge shaped reef with shot at 14m. Big groupers, morays, nudibrancs octopus.

Costs
Flights Gatwick to Murcia can be found from £50-£150 return if you book early enough.
I paid £76 return with Easyjet.
Easyjet and Monarch do this route. Easyjet, Monarch, GB Airways and others go to Alicante which is an extra 40 minutes drive.
There are flights to Murcia from other UK airports.

Accommodation and car hire (3nights/3 days) about £50 pp assuming 4 in a car and a 2 bed apartment. We stayed with Cristal Holidays who have high standard self catering accommodation at nearby Mar de Cristal. They will also provide airport/bar/restaurant/club/dive shop transfers/pickups if you don't want to hire a car.
Website
Phone: 0034 686394916

Diving: 30 Euro a dive including 15l tank, weights and coxed rib. Best to book in advance for diving weekends.
Planeta Azul:
Email: gran_blanco@wanadoo.es
Phone: 0034 968564532

Food: We paid 20 Euro and 30 Euro pp for 3 courses, coffee and wine. There are cheaper options.
Other: Wine is 4-5 Euro for a 2 litre plastic container filled from a barrel at the bodega.
Cigarettes: 30 Euro for 200

Summary

The diving was good with prolific life. It was particularly painless - just get in a rib for a 10mins sea trip to most sites. Have a shower, get changed, sit in the sun between dives. The surface current and swell might make it difficult for the inexperienced but there are shore dives too.
Conditions are normally better later in the year i.e. April to October.....
Accommodation and places to eat are easier to arrange/find and cheaper than in the UK.

Comments from other divers on this trip:

SA: Good trip, good marine reserve. Good kit test !
JB: Great two days diving very impressed with all of it.
Life on all the reefs was first class I have not seen as much life on any dive before. My first dive I saw 5 morays, wonderful.
JR: Very well organised - great diving, company, accommodation and food
MA: Well worth the journey for good diving, food, wine and, of course, the company.
Excellent diving although a bit cold at 15 degs in a semi-dry. Good visibility and lots of life, morays, octopus, very large grouper and a sun fish on the stern of the wreck, what more could you want!



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