I have visited Bolonia a few times before to visit the Roman Ruins of Bolonia Claudia, but I never knew there were any dive sites on the beach. I had first heard of some roman ruins that could be dived here last year, from a diving buddy that had shared his video on facebook. I then heard of another diving buddy going to Bolonia to dive here last weekend. And I decided to join him to find out for myself if the diving was any good.
The dive centre there is run by a guy called Ian, an expat who has now made his life in Bolonia, Spain. The only dive school in the area called Octopus Buceo, is one of a kind. It is very basic, but yet very impressive. The dive school is made of some old porta-cabins and old palettes of wood, with some recycled furniture and a lovely portable pool. Diving, Camping and the Food is free! The only thing you need to pay for are courses, diving insurance, and of course a donations, food and drinks is much appreciated.
I wanted to dive a small 2500 year old roman wreck which I had heard of. We were going to go dive this and then a reef wall. We ended up diving the reef wall and by the time we had finished all this, it was too late to dive the roman wreck. Getting to the dive sites is a bit challenging, you either need to ride a quad bike across the beach to the shore line, or walk for a couple of kilometres with all the dive gear.
I wanted to dive some roman ruins and the wreck, which unfortunately was not possible this time. So I decided to go back mid-week a few days later to dive the roman wreck. I was taken by quad bike to the dive site and then spent 90 minutes searching for it, unfortunately after speaking to some locals, I learned the wreck had been buried in the recent levanter storms, and was no longer there to see. I will try some other time again.
Then, I decided to arrange a club trip to Bolonia this weekend, to see some roman ruins, which I had still not seen. This time we were taken by quad bike to an old Phoenician castle. The walls were pretty amazing to see underwater, the only downside was a strong swell and low visibility due to the strong levanter gusts that affect to open area at time. I managed to get some photos of the walls.