Illes Medes

Every time I’ve dived in Spain, the Medes Islands has always popped up in conversation with the locals and dive centres, as one of Spain’s top diving destinations.

It had been on my list for a while now, but I had put it off, for diving in other places first. Since travel was still quite difficult due to COVID19 restrictions, with Spain been our neighbouring country and easier to travel to; just over a land border, I decided to make the journey up to the far North of Spain, to dive the Medes Islands in September.

It took me around 14 hours to get from Gibraltar to a small town called L'Estartit, which is where the dive centres are located, to dive off the Medes Islands. It’s a long drive! I checked the weather before leaving home, and it looked like strong winds were predicted during my stay, so I did message the dive centre, to confirm if diving was still possible, as I didn’t want to make the long drive up for nothing!

Diving very much depends on weather conditions most of the time, and it is not the first time I have travelled to a far away or remote destination, to have dives cancelled!

The next morning I went diving! Despite the strong winds, because of the Islands shapes, some dive sites were quite sheltered and the conditions were good! Very clear visibility with plenty of marine life. Large groupers been the predominant feature of the Medes Islands. Deeper parts of the reefs had red corals! These corals have long been hunted for in the Mediterranean Sea and sold to make expensive jewellery from them!

On my second day of diving, the visibility was now not so great! Heavy rains had caused mud and silt from a nearby river, to run into the sea, and spread around the waters off the Medes Islands. After my dives, I headed back to Gibraltar, with an overnight stop at Murcia, to make the long journey back, more comfortable!

Below is a small video I have put together from diving at the Medes Islands: