Spain, the country of wonderful people

Text and photos BRUNON WALIGÓRA

My diving adventure in Spain began a bit by accident. I have been visiting this country for many years, visiting various regions practically every year. I was delighted by Cantabria, Rioja, Andalusia and Catalonia. The Canary Islands also turned out to be interesting.

Everywhere I have always experienced a great hospitality and openness of its fantastic inhabitants, and that is probably what amazed me the most in this country. I got to know the Spanish language a bit and I was captivated by its melody, it allowed me to make great acquaintances that I cultivate to this day. It makes that all memories are still alive and very emotional. When I visited Catalonia for the first time in Lloret de Mar, while walking down the street next to the diving centre, I heard Polish. It turned out, that one of the women working there was

Polish. After a few sentences mentioned together, I decided to dive with rented equipment. The owner of Dolphins Diving is Sergio Infante, who immediately took me for a dive in Tossa de Mar to a small cave at a depth of 20 m. On the way, I met a few moray eels and a magnificent grouper. In the following years, I returned to Sergio with my own equipment for the next fantastic dives, e.g. the wreck of the Boreas ship at 30 m in Palamos, the canyon at Cap de Sa Boquera in Canyelles, or for very difficult dives in the post-storm wave to the cave Cova del Dofi at a depth of 30m in Sant Feliu de Guixols and other wonderful places. It was amazing to dive in Lloret de Mar on St. John's night in June in flashes of fireworks on the surface. There is a huge accommodation base at good prices, available through e.g. bookingcom. It is best to go to Catalonia by plane to Girona, rent a car there at the airport and then, being mobile, to explore the enchanting coast of this region. You must see Barcelona, Cadaqués, Begur and Tossa de Mar. There are also brilliant dives at L'Estartit in the Medes Islands Reserve, which were already covered in the previous PD issue. I strongly encourage you to meet there with the greatest groupers I have ever seen in my life among the rainbow fields of gorgonians.

Another place that I visit regularly is Andalusia in the Malaga area. This time, also using bookingcom, I found a perfect place to stay in Benalmádena. The aparthotel BenalBeach is located directly on the promenade and has its own water park and is situated close to the wonderful park Parque de la Paloma, where animals are on the loose. I recommend this place to divers who travel with their family and children. You will not be bored there!

This time the dives were planned much earlier and due to their photographic nature, I asked for a guide only for myself, so as not to inhibit the group. Of course, this was associated with higher costs, but the price was acceptable. I used the Simly Diving base next to Torremolinos, where I met an amazingly nice dive master named Martin Dias from South Africa. He is an extremely pragmatic man and familiar with the conditions prevailing there. I chose to dive in the Marina del Este bay reserve next to La Herradura, where the Sierra Nevada Mountains get into the Mediterranean Sea creating steep walls and corridors among fallen boulders and stones. This

place is under strict protection, and the animals living there are regularly fed, which means that we can be sure of meeting them in a natural and not plundered environment. Diving logistics is usually perfectly organised.

After the morning check-in at the base and completing the formalities, we take the bus with packed equipment to the planned diving site, stopping on the way for a short break for breakfast in a local restaurant. You go to the coast along a steep serpentine up the hillside among flowery properties. There is a large parking lot on site with a place to prepare equipment and photographic equipment. You can dive in the bay on its left side, where the bottom drops near the walls to about 18–20 m, and on the right side, which in my opinion is more interesting, where you have to walk a bit and swim on the surface, which is tiring but rewarded with fantastic views of huge sunken boulders forming a labyrinth that leads to the edge of the bay and the open sea at a point called Puna de la Mona, where you can meet large fish swimming, such as sunfish (Mola Mola), although quite deep at about 20–30 m. It is worth considering choosing a 15-liter cylinder due to the distance to be covered underwater. Of course, I recommend a drysuit for thermal comfort. The annual water temperature ranges from 14 to 28°C. In May and June it was about 19–20°C, and below 15 m the depth will be only a maximum of 16°C. We do two dives with a lunch break included.

Remember to hydrate properly and, especially on warm days, it is worth taking 3 litres of water.

As my passion is underwater photography, I asked Martin to focus on animals. I was very surprised by his knowledge of the environment and fauna of this bay. Virtually every now and then we came across new animals. There are octopuses, cuttlefish, crawfish, shrimps, crabs, tubulars, groupers, wrasses, scorpion fish and lots of other fish. Particularly noteworthy is the multitude of species and a big number of nudibranchs, which are the icing on the cake for a macro photographer. You usually have to take into account the undulations in this bay, up to 15m deep, which makes photography very difficult. It is worth equipping yourself with a pointer and stabilising your position in sand or rock crevices. Move with great care, maintaining perfect buoyancy with non-falling equipment (e.g. console, octopus) in order not to damage the environment. I would suggest swimming close to boulders so as not to miss

the perfect camouflage of animals. Transparency in the water (visage) reaches 10–20 m depending on the weather and currents. There is a lot of slurry and plankton. It is worth taking a good light with you and of course a compass so as not to get lost in the maze of boulders covered with multi-coloured carpets of algae, sponges and corals. Pausing with attention for a moment, you can see the extraordinary richness of life up close, even on a fragment of a rock with a palm surface.

As in the case of Catalonia, it is good to go to Malaga by plane. Here, too, I encourage you to rent a car at the airport that will allow you to visit the south of Spain and jump into the water. I recommend a visit to Granada in the Alhambra palace and gardens, it is worth seeing the town of Ronda north of Malaga. In Benalmádena itself there is a beautiful sailing marina and the old part of the town called Benalmádena Pueblo. It is also close to Marbella and Gibraltar. On the coast there is the beautiful town of Nerja, and next to Torrox, where there is the Black Frog Divers diving base run by our Polish colleague Marcin Ogrodowski. They carry out recreational and training dives from the shore and from the boat, also in the described bay of Marina del Este. Night dives that guarantee meetings with predators are also a very good idea.

I am already thinking about another vacation in Spain, although the situation related to travel restrictions due to Covid does not encourage to take such decisions. However, I hope that everything will be back to normal soon and you will be able to enjoy diving and meeting friends again.

` The average cost of accommodation in a 3–4 person apartment is 60–70 €/ day ` The average cost of buying food is low. ` The cost of renting a car in B / C class is 15–30 € / day + deposit insurance (you can have your own), by purchasing the fullcasco option on site, you will certainly get a new car and free yourself from any problems. I recommend Firefly Car Rental – https://spain.fireflycarrental.com

Public bus transport also works great on site.

` Lloret de Mar, Dolphins Diving, Sergio Infante – http://dolphinsdivingcenter.com ` Marbella and Torremolinos, Simply Diving, Simon Bell – https://www.simplydiving.com ` Torrox, Black Frog Divers, Marcin Ogrodowski – https://www.blackfrogdivers.com

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