Adventure Divers Team September 2012

Bajo de Dentro - Cave and Chimney

Bajo de Dentro

Bajo de Dentro is a rocky submerged pinnacle located in the Islas Hormigas marine reserve off the tip of Cabo de Palos in Murcia.  The marine reserve consists of 19 sq km of protected water characterized by an extremely high diversity of aquatic life.   

The pinnacle consists of a rocky outcrop which rises up from a sandy seabed at around 50 metres and reaches a depth of around 3 to 4 metres.  Its northern side comprises of a gently sloping platform some 20-30m in length which lies in 12-16m of water. Both the eastern & western sides consist of steep walls and the easterly wall is almost vertical & deeper.

We dived with the Naranjito scuba diving centre from the port of Cabo de Palos in a RIB.  Bajo de Dentro lies exactly 4 km from port, within the marine reserve of Islas Hormigas taking around 10-15 minutes to get there.  

Because of the currents that surround the pinnacle as well as its coveted protected marine reserve status, Bajo de Dentro is extremely rich in both marine flora and fauna.  Large schools of both sea perch, Chromis, Corva, Bream & Mojarra are guaranteed, which in turn attract shoals of Barracuda, Groupers & Dentex. Amongst the rocks lies sanctuary for Scorpion fish, Brotala, Lobsters, Moray and Conger Eels.  There is also an abundance of soft corals such as Gorgonias. You can occasionally spot eagle rays, sunfish & maybe turtles.

Common marine life: large groupers, moray eels, eagle rays, barracuda shoals, dentex, sun fish, slipper lobsters, bream, blennies.

Visibility: From 10 m to 40m
Min depth: 4m
Max depth: 50m
Experience level: Open water and above
Conditions: This site is situated in open waters so can be affected by some strong currents and a north easterly wind.

The Cave - Bajo de Dentro

The cave is at a depth of 20 metres.

The Chimney - Bajo de Dentro

Star Fish

Gorgonia

Jelly fish, Pelagia noctiluca, aka mauve stinger.

This jelly fish's sting was quite painful.  During the diving season I regularly saw this species in the water around Murcia.  I managed to successfully avoid its sting.  However one day on climbing into the boat I did feel an extremely sharp pain on my ear lobe. At first I thought my ear-ring had been ripped out.  The sensation was close to what I imagine the pain would be from a hammer strike on my lobe and an anvil!

Safety stop - 3 minutes @ 5 meters

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Last Bubblemaker of 2012

In the classroom

 

1, 2, 3......Jump!

 

Warming up with push-ups

The rain in Spain - Above

The rain in Spain - Below

Australian Egg and Spoon Race

Sea-life Hide and Seek

Shark attack

Shark sighting

Octopus Tug Of War

Conger Eels

These two Conger Eels were seen at bay 2 at Cabo de Palos. 

Stingrays - The Cala, Murcia

These stingrays were spotted during a Discover Scuba Diving trip to La Cala, the Manga Club Hotel's own secluded bay in the Mediterranean Sea.   

Cuttlefish - Cabo de Palos, Murcia

Discovery Dive - La Cala, La Manga Club 23-8-2012

Advanced Diver Training - Night Dive

Night Adventure Dive

Night dives are without doubt one of my favourite types of diving.  There is an added sense of trepidation and uncertainty which makes the dive that bit more exciting.  With all dives you have to be adequately prepared and when night diving there are some extra considerations to take into account.

The highlight of night diving is undeniably the nocturnal aquatic life as many of the plants and animals seen will be completely different.

During this particular dive we saw various octopus, shrimp, prawns, hermit crabs and eels swimming between the rocks.

                              

Bubblemaker 18-8-12