Roy's Cave, Orkney - Scotland

 

Entry: 13:08

Dive time: 50min

Depth: 16.8m

Temp: 11 degrees C

Weights: 12kg 

Air: Nitrox 31

Scapa2#7

 

 

 

 

Llosa del Patro Pere and Swis Cheese - Fornells, Menorca, Spain

Dive 1 Llosa del Patro Pere

Dive time: 56 minutes

Entry time: 9:53

Depth: 24.7m

Temp:  19 C

Visibility: 10m+

Dive 2 Swiss Cheese

Dive time: 49 minutes

Entry time: 12:29

Depth: 20.1m

Temp: 19 C

Visibility: 10m+

 

 

Cagaires (Illa del Aire) and S'algar (Funnels) - Menorca, Spain

 

Faro de Isla del Aire (Lighthouse of Isla del Aire)

    

 

Dive 1 Cagaires (Illa del Aire)

Dive time: 47 minutes

Entry time: 10:55

Depth: 19.8m

Temp:  21 C

Visibility: 10m+

 

 

Dive 2 S'algar (Funnels)

Dive time: 49 min

Entry time: 1:09

Depth:  25.9m

Temp:  25 C

Visibility: 10m+

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

View Larger Map

Cueva del Diablo (The Devil's Cave) Mallorca

The Devil's Cave dive profile.

There are two large chambers within the Devil's Cave.  The first at the entrance was completely submerged whereas the second was filled with air and accessible through a tunnel running vertically to the surface.

The second chamber was impressive.  There were numerous remains of candles which would have made the cave even more spectacular, however, the effect of our torches also offered its own alluring experience.

The Skylight Cave, Mallorca

The Skylight Cave was one of my favourite dive sites.

With the opening directly above the cave system almost the whole cave was illuminated.  On entering the cave, divers proceed to the middle of the cave below the skylight.  The area on the far left of the diagram was unlit and required the use of torches.  The group could then swim up at the back of the cave and surface in the top left corner.  It is possible to stand in this area but with great care, many plants and organisms lived in this area and it would be a shame to recklessly crush them.  The group could then swim back towards the skylight and swim down to the lower level.

 

 A conger eel was regularly found in a crevice at the back of the Skylight Cave.

 Part of the dive included showing the other divers the conger, if he was at home.

Entering el Cueva del Diablo

The Devil's Cave was known as one of the best dive sites so all the divers were excited and anxious to enter and explore the cave.  The conditions that day were favourable and the divers in the group all had enough experience and no hesitations regarding diving in caves.  I can just be seen at the far back of the group in the video.

The Cathedral and Three Caves, Mallorca

This was another of my favourite dive sites.

Confident divers could enter the cave on the right which descended down towards the left.

At the back of this cave, sometimes hidden by dead sea grass, was a little tunnel.

Entering this tunnel with lamps the group exited from the second cave.

 The exit of the big cave (second from the right in the diagram)

Entering the middle cave 

Lights out

 

The Cathedral

The Big Cheese, Mallorca

The Big Cheese dive site profile

The Big Cheese is near the port of Cala Ratjada.  It's a big rock that rises from the water and is riddled with holes giving it its name.  This was without doubt the best dive site in the area for spotting sea life: octopus, barracudas, lobster, nudibranchs, moray eel sightings are guaranteed. 

Moray Eel

Mediterranean Slipper Lobster

Pair of Mediterranean Slipper Lobsters

Barracuda in the distance

Video produced and edited by Michael