Scuba Diving in Spain - Costa Tropical

Diving? In Andalusia? Janos must have though I had "gone over to the dark side" and was off on a sneaky ski trip. But no, Andalusia does have a coast - and let me tell you just how good the diving there is.

As you drive south from Granada, the high plain melts into the foothills of the Sierra Navada mountains. The road passes through steep gorges and then scoots across the plain of the Costa Tropical. This stretch of Spanish coast gets its name from its climate. Tropical fruits flourish and huge areas are given over to sugar cane. It's also renowned for its olives, almonds, ham and pretty much anything else you could desire for tapas.

Once you reach Salobreña, with it's imposing fort perched on a vast rock that dominating the coast, you see how the last morsels of mountain have rolled into the sea. That’s what gives this area such great diving.

The Costa Tropical is small - stretching for the port of Motril to the resort of La Herradura. I think it offers some of the best diving in the Mediterranean. To the west is Malaga, Toremelinos, Marbella and the rest of the Cost Del Sol. To the east is the (posher) Costa de Almeria. Here there are just high rock cliffs and gravelly beaches. There are developed resorts but there are plenty of bays with no beach that you need a boat to get to - and that gravelly bottom makes for excellent visibility.

A quick visit to the tourist office revealed half a dozen dive centers - all based in Almuñecar. A few phone calls and I had some diving lined up. Club Nautique took me to some beautiful sites.

My favorite was Tres Picos. A jump from the top of a ladder into turquoise water put us right in the middle of the site. A shoal of rainbow wrasse caught my eye - they'd seen something to eat and were swarming around a crevice. I joined in and they adopted me for the rest of the dive. Wherever I looked I was in the swarm. Clear blue water, octopuses, Blue Runners, Zebra Sea Bream, a Trigger Fish off in the distance, oh, and the Blennies!

Every rock seemed to have a Blenny or a Gobi. Black, Golden, or Tompot, they would let you get close, closer then close as anything before darting into their hole.

If you'd prefer to dive with the Spanish, and you should try it - they're happy relaxed, skillful divers - I would recommend Bueco La Herradura. Much as we pitch up at the weekend and use "Swanage Diver", Spaniards arrive at the weekend and use this Bueco La Herradura and its boat.

A few minutes in the boat brings you to bays almost completely remote. Jumping off the back of the boat puts you into beautiful water. More octopuses, Mediterranean Moray, Nudibranches, Wrasse, Gobies, Squid and Cuttlefish. Not to mention caves, swim throughs and dramatic rock formations.

That was just me, doing a few days diving in spain. I'm sure there's a lot more to explore - and I'll be going back there soon!