YACHT SCUBA SAFETY
Nick Stael von Holstein
[email protected]Diving in MallorcaMost people when visiting
Mallorca are gob smacked
with her beauty above the
water. With our pristine calas,
awe-inspiring mountains,
cozy seaside restaurants and
traditional villages it’s easy to
forget we have a magnificent
underwater world here.After 5 years of diving around
Mallorca I must admit this
little patch of paradise in
the Med keeps this old salty
diver very interested indeed.
We are super lucky to have
some of the healthiest
marine ecosystems in the
Mediterranean, right on our
door step!The first dive sites that I
recommend people visit are
El Toro Marine Reserve in
the South West and a small
island just outside the port
at Cala Rajada in the North
East. During our past few
summer seasons we have
had the pleasure of opening
yacht owners & guests minds
to the beauty of Mallorca
underwater and it’s these two
dive sites that have done it.
It really is wonderful to see
experienced divers come to
Mallorca expecting nothing
and leaving with the thought
of coming back for more.El Toro is also a small
Island, this local MPA is
one of the few hotspots
in the Mediterranean for
fish biomass and whenshe puts on a show it is of
international standing. I can
remember a few dives at El
Toro where the only thing
missing in the mass of fish
schools were large pelagic
sharks. Massive schools of
barracuda, huge groupers,
free swimming morey eels,
nudibranchs, flat worms,
octopus, massive schools of
bait fish shimmering in the
sunlight and visibility that is
jaw dropping in itself, all in
one dive. So just imagine,
the pleasurable shock that
un-expecting divers get when
finishing this kind of dive, in
the Med! Awesome. To finish
the day a second dive on the
other side of El Toro is perfect.
Usually a little quieter on
the marine life side of things
but come to the end of the
dive its time for a little bit of
cave action. You can actually
swim into this cave at around
4m and have a look around
for nocturnal creatures then
as you look up a reflective
shimmer on the surface is
your invitation to pop up and
have a little chat in a pocket ofair inside the cave. Super cool
diving day indeed!Now Cala Rajada and the
Cheese! EL Queso is the name
of the dive site just outside
the port in Cala Rajada. Now
picture all that I described at
El Toro and then add swim
throughs and cathedral like
caverns to the dive. This dive
site is for advanced divers
if you really want to have a
full cheese experience. With
interconnecting tunnels
and large caverns that are
peppered with multi colored
corals and other polyps this
really is a site that is worth
doing a few times!Rajada, by the way, means
Ray! Which brings me on tomy next recommended dive
site. Mallorca ́s own
Stingray city!!April and May sees the Bay of
Palma Marine Reserve home
to our popular population
of common stingrays who
return to this site for some
underwater love each year.
Romantic hey! This dive site
is quite baron without the
rays, sandy patches with
posidonia borders and some
rocky outcrops. When the
rays are here however, this
site becomes alive and mind
blowing. I don’t actually know
any sites at home where you
can see so many rays in one
area. At the peak of stingray
season in the bay you are
certain to see at least 50 rays
on a dive. Superb!So, if you still think Mallorca is
only beautiful from sea level
up, then think again. She has
so much more to offer if you
add the other dimension of
the underwater world.I would encourage all of you
who now live in Mallorca to
stick your head in the water
and add another element of
appreciation for our amazing
adopted home.Happy diving folks!!Adopt a rescued
dog in 2014!
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