jryana6e
Registered
I just spent last weekend diving the Medes Islands on the Northeast coast of Spain. There was not a lot of recent information on SB, so I thought I would post a trip report. I often travel to Toulouse, France for business, so had a couple of weekends to spend -- diving seemed like a good idea if I could make it happen.
As an American, hurdle number one was obtaining a Diver Medical Exam from a Spanish doctor. After arriving in L'Estartit on Sunday of the first weekend, my chosen dive shop owner (whom I'll get to in a minute) sent me to the center of town to Center Medic Estartit, Ave de Grecia. They open 1000-1400 daily -- I was surprised and happy that I managed to get an exam on Sunday. Fifty euros, which is a good deal in my opinion. Fill out the questionnaire, get the full EKG, BP, and basic physical exam, and in less than 30 minutes I was good to go. I'm not sure if it's good or one or two years. I still had time to dive later that day before heading to Toulouse for the week.
I chose to dive with Calypso Diving, PADI Certification Scuba Diving with Calypso Diving Estartit Islas Medas Costa Brava Spain , which is run by an Englishman, Peter Lane, and his wife Jacqueline. Peter has been doing this for 40+ years and first an foremost runs a safe operation. He drives the boat, which is simple and efficient in it's layout. Good equipment (e.g., Apex regs, nice wetsuits) provided if needed (I did), and he takes a systematic approach to the operation. The islands are only about 1km away, so each trip is a single tank dive, and he runs trips at 9, 11, 3, and 5 (at least the days I was there). I did the 11 and 3 dives each day. The procedure was to show up at the shop 45 minutes prior to the dive, pick out the rental gear and load it in a bag. Drop the bag in the van, then walk along the waterfront to the boat pickup point on the first pier - it's about a 10 minute walk. The van meets us at the pier, where we unload the bags and pick up a tank (12 or 15 liters). When the boat arrives, walk on board, pick a spot and start gearing up. Since the boat trip is so short, most of us chose to put on the wetsuits on the pier. Rental regs masks and computers are handed out on board.
Once the boat arrives at the dive site, Peter gives the brief in whatever languages are needed. I think I heard Spanish, German, French, Dutch and English (the clear minority). The dive sites are in the Medes Island nature preserve, so there is a system for which boats go to which sites at various times. Peter seemed to make the most of those assignments given wind/wave patterns.
The dives we did ranged from 60' max to 100' max, at a total time of about 45 minutes. Good sea life, including very large grouper and more octopus than I have ever seen before, especially during the day - a couple I'd guess were close to 3' long. Water temps were 55F-57F (early June), so the 6mm hooded wetsuits worked well. I was alone, so Peter set me up with buddies each trip. Of the 5 dives I did, on two I followed an instructor who was leading some relative novices, while on the other 3, I partnered with more experienced divers.
A couple of pointers for American divers: In Europe, gauges are in BAR, which is not a big deal. You'll start at about 200 BAR, and plan to be back on the boat at 50 BAR (about 750 PSI). Rather than signal your numeric BAR, the standard seems to be to give a "T" signal with your hands (like a football time-out) when you reach 100 BAR (half of the start pressure). The rest of the hand signals seemed to be the same as I learned. Depths will be described in meters.
There is time to grab lunch between the return from 11am dive and the start of the 3pm dive, even if you need to get the gear. There are numerous waterfront restaurants to choose from.
Cost was 100 euros total for the 4 dives, plus 30 euros for the two days of equipment (I had my computer with me, but needed everything else).
I stayed at the Santa Anna for 65 euros/night, which was nice, but the rooms don't have waterfront views. The breakfast on the rooftop terrace was basic, but the view was good. The first weekend I stayed one night at the Bell Aire, which was inexpensive at 35 Euros and very basic. Hotel Panorama was right by the shop, had a better view of the water, and is where I plan to try next.
Overall, a good dive experience and I'll go back. It was a 3 hour drive from Toulouse, but I saw divers from many further places in Europe, including 3 Belgians I dove with on Sunday morning that were driving back the same afternoon.
Let me know if you have questions.
As an American, hurdle number one was obtaining a Diver Medical Exam from a Spanish doctor. After arriving in L'Estartit on Sunday of the first weekend, my chosen dive shop owner (whom I'll get to in a minute) sent me to the center of town to Center Medic Estartit, Ave de Grecia. They open 1000-1400 daily -- I was surprised and happy that I managed to get an exam on Sunday. Fifty euros, which is a good deal in my opinion. Fill out the questionnaire, get the full EKG, BP, and basic physical exam, and in less than 30 minutes I was good to go. I'm not sure if it's good or one or two years. I still had time to dive later that day before heading to Toulouse for the week.
I chose to dive with Calypso Diving, PADI Certification Scuba Diving with Calypso Diving Estartit Islas Medas Costa Brava Spain , which is run by an Englishman, Peter Lane, and his wife Jacqueline. Peter has been doing this for 40+ years and first an foremost runs a safe operation. He drives the boat, which is simple and efficient in it's layout. Good equipment (e.g., Apex regs, nice wetsuits) provided if needed (I did), and he takes a systematic approach to the operation. The islands are only about 1km away, so each trip is a single tank dive, and he runs trips at 9, 11, 3, and 5 (at least the days I was there). I did the 11 and 3 dives each day. The procedure was to show up at the shop 45 minutes prior to the dive, pick out the rental gear and load it in a bag. Drop the bag in the van, then walk along the waterfront to the boat pickup point on the first pier - it's about a 10 minute walk. The van meets us at the pier, where we unload the bags and pick up a tank (12 or 15 liters). When the boat arrives, walk on board, pick a spot and start gearing up. Since the boat trip is so short, most of us chose to put on the wetsuits on the pier. Rental regs masks and computers are handed out on board.
Once the boat arrives at the dive site, Peter gives the brief in whatever languages are needed. I think I heard Spanish, German, French, Dutch and English (the clear minority). The dive sites are in the Medes Island nature preserve, so there is a system for which boats go to which sites at various times. Peter seemed to make the most of those assignments given wind/wave patterns.
The dives we did ranged from 60' max to 100' max, at a total time of about 45 minutes. Good sea life, including very large grouper and more octopus than I have ever seen before, especially during the day - a couple I'd guess were close to 3' long. Water temps were 55F-57F (early June), so the 6mm hooded wetsuits worked well. I was alone, so Peter set me up with buddies each trip. Of the 5 dives I did, on two I followed an instructor who was leading some relative novices, while on the other 3, I partnered with more experienced divers.
A couple of pointers for American divers: In Europe, gauges are in BAR, which is not a big deal. You'll start at about 200 BAR, and plan to be back on the boat at 50 BAR (about 750 PSI). Rather than signal your numeric BAR, the standard seems to be to give a "T" signal with your hands (like a football time-out) when you reach 100 BAR (half of the start pressure). The rest of the hand signals seemed to be the same as I learned. Depths will be described in meters.
There is time to grab lunch between the return from 11am dive and the start of the 3pm dive, even if you need to get the gear. There are numerous waterfront restaurants to choose from.
Cost was 100 euros total for the 4 dives, plus 30 euros for the two days of equipment (I had my computer with me, but needed everything else).
I stayed at the Santa Anna for 65 euros/night, which was nice, but the rooms don't have waterfront views. The breakfast on the rooftop terrace was basic, but the view was good. The first weekend I stayed one night at the Bell Aire, which was inexpensive at 35 Euros and very basic. Hotel Panorama was right by the shop, had a better view of the water, and is where I plan to try next.
Overall, a good dive experience and I'll go back. It was a 3 hour drive from Toulouse, but I saw divers from many further places in Europe, including 3 Belgians I dove with on Sunday morning that were driving back the same afternoon.
Let me know if you have questions.
How do you signal half tank at the other side of the pond? (US, Caribbean)
