BSAC TRAVEL CLUB - Trip Reports

TRAVEL CLUB

MALLORCA, January 2004

by Paul Monro

It's 6.00am at Luton airport and there are 8 of us thinking that this had better be good to have got us out of our beds at this unearthly hour on a Sunday morning.

After a cooked breakfast at the airport (That's blown a hole in any budget for food!) we line up to check in with Easyjet. All bar one scrape through with the 30Kg weight allowance. Are you sure you didn't pack a couple of weight belts as well, Kim?

Take off on time and a pleasant flight made all the merrier by the wonderful humour of the flight attendant. Arrival at Palma early. Are we certain we flew Easyjet?

We are met by Fred of Planet Scuba who greets us and we all pile into his minibus. The luggage is squeezed into a little Honda saloon and this drives off with the front wheels somehow still touching the ground.

We are taken off to the Rey Don Jaime Hotel where we meet Mathilda. At this point we are all very nervous of the what the hotel might be like, after all we know how little we have paid for it. Great surprise, decent hotel rooms and a large bar.

After disgorging our clothes we meet Fred & Mathilda in the bar for an informal get together and a chance for Fred to get an idea of each individual's diving experience.

I'm feeling particularly young despite being the oldest in the group - the hotel has been taken over by the Spanish "Senior" club. The next oldest person must have 20 years on me! We give the bartender something to do while the rest of the hotel play cards or Ludo without a drink in sight.

Following either a quiet or hectic night, depending on the individual, Fred meets us in the hotel lobby and off we go to Port Adriano to pick our kit up and go diving.

The first dive is gentle poodle around Cala Del Ray to give everyone a chance to adjust weights etc. There is a bit of surge where we first drop in. The only one who doesn't seem to be caught unawares is Sharon. This is her very first sea dive. "Well" she said afterwards " I thought that was normal" A gentle dive with a maximum depth of 18 metres including a pretty swim through. Water temperature was 13°C which caused some of the semi-dry brigade a sharp intake of breath.

Back on the rib we change over cylinders and head for El Toro, a small island not far away. Due to some unfortunate parking by our captain Alberto in some rather lumpy water yours truly tries water skiing while Alberto repositions the rib. The net result is that my second stage free-flowed and I decide not to start the dive with only 30bar in the tank. I join some slightly green divers in the rib while the rest have a second dive. What was it like - ask someone else!

Day two starts off a bit cold and overcast but the sea is calm. In view of the slight lack of sea legs it is agreed that we return to Port Adriano between dives for a surface interval on terra firma. The first dive is to Islas Margrat, where we start the dive in a natural sheltered pool then continue along a wall for a pleasant scenic dive. Some saw a school of barracuda, but as usual I was looking in the wrong direction, but I did see a stone fish the barracuda hunters missed. A gentle relaxed dive touching 23 metres for some, with an average around 10 metres.

After a surface interval of assorted drinks and nibbles we head out to Cala Monjo. The early highlight is a 25 metre tunnel which we all go through conga style. There are so many torches on, it is brighter that the 20 metre shelf at Stoney Cove. After a scenic swim around a wall we then go through a much shorter tunnel and then turn back on ourselves and watch our exhaust bubbles filtering through the roof of the tunnel. A similar profile to the previous dive.

That evening we start to form the opinion that, despite the free wine with our meals, it is starting to get a bit repetitive. Oh, the pink custard, memories are made of this!! We convince ourselves that for the price perhaps we shouldn't complain.

Yet another overcast day, but still calm and for our first dive it's off to Isla El Sec for a wreck dive. Well, three wrecks actually. The first two were accidental and the last has been sunk deliberately for the local tourist submarine to visit. Apparently during the season, when the submarine is operating, they also have divers in the water feeding the fish. But not in January though, and the wrecks are quickly visited with not much life around.

We surface to rain - that wasn't part of the dive plan.

The second dive takes us back to El Toro. Better parking this time! Another gentle scenic dive with a variety of life, moray eels, red coral and octopus among those reported back on the surface. Myself and Barry reluctantly surface last after a very pleasant bumble around in the relative shallows looking in the nooks and crannies.

We decide to turn down the culinary delights at the hotel that evening and go looking for somewhere to eat. After a foray into a Tapas bar we find ourselves at one of the only two restaurants that are open. The Italian is chock full so we end up at a Chinese. Following a short negotiation by our resident diplomat Vinney, we select from the "Special" menu.

The last day's diving is upon us and the sun is well and truly out. The first dive takes us to Cap Des Llamp. Fred tells us that we are in luck, tide and wind means that conditions are rare for a dive here. We enter around a cape and then swim along a wall. The rock falls that have occurred in the past make for a very pretty dive, maximum depth here around 25 metres but there is the opportunity to pick a depth and simply enjoy the scenery. The underwater rock formations together with the sunlight showing through the gaps make this a memorable dive.

Our final dive is just a few hundred metres along from our first dive. This is a large cave, well more of a cavernette (Well it would be if there was such a word), with the opening stretching upwards from about 25 metres to about 5 metres below the surface while the cave itself does not go back very far. And what do we find at the base of the cave, surprise, surprise - a statue of the Madonna. An added seasonal extra is the Nativity scene next to the base of the statue. A close look at a couple of fissures in the cave reveal a conger eel in each of them. As we dive towards the rear of the cave and ascend we find ourselves in a fairly large air space. Fred had briefed us to expect this and assured us that the air was breathable. Time for a chat mid dive! Looking down through the water and back where we had come from a great deal of natural light was filtering through, which made for a very pretty stop. Back down and into the open sea we followed the wall along, looking at the assorted life on the wall face before finally easing out into to the open water for a safety stop before surfacing into brilliant sunshine.

Later that afternoon, Fred and Mathilda drove us all to Palma where there was the opportunity to visit a couple of dive shops. For some there was the normal glazed look of divers entering a shop followed by the well known hypnotic mantra of "Open your wallet and repeat after me - help yourself" After shopping therapy was completed we all agreed to meet up at the hotel and then to go on to a restaurant for a final meal. The choice of venue was a place called Dion's. Why? You will have to ask Vinney to tell the tale of himself, Dion and George Best's autograph! Suffice it to say the meal was excellent and we were all treated very well.

One final breakfast and it was time for the return trip to the airport courtesy of Fred & Mathilda. Unfortunately the check-in clerk was rather more vigilant than at Luton and Easyjet made a few more quid on excess baggage. An uneventful flight home and then it was all over.

To try to look at the break objectively what conclusions can I draw? First of all value for money. We paid 320 Euros each (Approximately Ł210) for all accommodation and diving. The hotel was booked on our behalf by Planet Scuba, The Easyjet fare was Ł49.50 return. I am sure a similar package anywhere in the UK, i.e. 8 dives and 5 nights full board in a hotel would have cost us more even taking into account the cost of the flights. The other consideration is what are the chances of planning 3 months in advance for 4 days diving in the U.K. in January and not getting blown out?

The dive centre, Planet Scuba, could not have been more helpful and flexible in meeting our requests. I personally believe they went the extra mile. As for the diving, well don't go there if you want high adrenalin, demanding diving, you will be disappointed. If you want relaxed diving in reasonable viz, then this fits the bill exactly. Don't expect masses of large fish, as Fred explained, the local Mallorcans are obsessed with spear fishing . So now you know where they have gone. On the up side, marine reserves are being set up, so things should improve.
One final thanks should go to Vinney, without his suggestion and previous experience of Planet Scuba we would not have gone there in the first place.

The intrepid explorers consisted of:
Sharon McGuire, Linda Grilli, Vinney Houghton, David Montague
Kim Gene, Martin Griffin, Barry Gales, Paul Monro

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