Nice Experience in Costa del Sol

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Henryville

Contributor
Scuba Instructor
Messages
520
Reaction score
1
Location
New England
# of dives
500 - 999
We had an off-season vacation in Marbella, Spain last week. We dove two days with Happy Divers, based in Estepona, and had a great time doing so. Our guides each day were Mark and Kaia, and they both contributed a lot to the experience with natural enthusiasm, good local knowledge, and sound diving leadership practices.

First day we went to Gibraltar to dive at Camp Bay on the western side of the point. This was a shore dive site in view of Algeciras, Spain across the narrow bay and off in the distance, the mountains of Morroco. Dive one was on the M482, a barge serving as an artificial reef. We saw plenty of nudibranchs, octopi, congers, crabs, small fish, anemones, and an electric ray. Visibility was better than expected at around 30 feet, helped by an absolutely crystal-clear day.

Second dive was from same location to a site called 3 Barges. Marine life was similar to first dive, with addition of a huge conger tucked into a crevice inside the barge that Mark showed us at the beginning of the dive.

Each of these dives were in the 55 foot range for 50 minutes.

After dive, our hosts added a lot to the experience by taking us for a visit to the "southernmost point" of Europe where we enjoyed vistas of the rock, the picturesque mosque there, and views of Africa in the distance.

The next day, I went with Happy Divers to a site called the Barco Antiguo, which is the wreck of the Lys intentionally scuttled under attack just off the beach in Estepona in 1705. It is a pretty big area, maybe 200 feet long, with maximum relief of about 6 feet. For someone from the wreck-scavanging northeast US, it was amazing to see 300 year-old artifacts just laying in the wreck, there despite the many divers that must visit this shallow site just offshore. We saw brass buckles and buttons, pottery fragments, a large bone fragment, etc. Octopi, shrimp, crabs, and small fishes in abundance. We spent about an hour at 35 feet on this site.

Finally, we had a dive at the Torre Marbella, an abandoned rock loading tower off shore at the eastern end of Marbella. Here we visited a small wrecked boat, and underwater shrine to St. Carmen, and circled the base of the tower where there were more octopus, crabs, etc. In one area there are 5 - 6 crevices arranged vertically up a corner of the tower covering maybe 10 feet, inside each was a conger and some also contained crabs and shrimp.

All in all, we had a great time depsite cooler temperatures and vis that I understand is not necessarily great for the area (temps and vis were just fine compared to the northeastern Atlantic, though!) These were shallow, unchallenging sites that anyone from a raw beginnner could handle but there was nonetheless plenty to see. The locations were novel as well. Mark and Kaia from Happy divers did a great job and I would encourage any of you vacationing in that area to give them a try.
 
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