The Costa Calida, in the Region of Murcia, offers a rich variety of diving experiences for the beginner or the skilled diver.
The region's seabed is blessed with a variety of marine life and flora, and numerous, fascinating historic shipwrecks, making the Cabo de Palos-Islas Hormigas-Isla Grosa, Cartagena-La Azohía- Cabo Tiñoso, Mazarrón, and Águilas exceptional places for diving.
All offer the opportunity to enjoy everything from easy dives in shallow waters, to more challenging routes recommended only for more experienced divers. For assistance, there are numerous diving centres offering courses and dive experiences for all levels: from beginners to more technical dives to large shipwrecks, underwater caves and crevices, suitable for the experienced diver.
In Cabo de Palos, Islas Hormigas and Isla Grosa – in the north-west of the region – one finds some of the best diving opportunities in the Mediterranean: spectacular reefs brimming with fish, overhangs and many seemingly unexplored caverns.
Beyond the lagoon, the tips of an ancient volcanic chain form islands and undersea mountains in one of Spain's oldest marine reserves, dating from 1995. Not only is it a stunning place to come face to face with marine life, but there are also traces of wooden vessels, both Roman and Phoenician, at the Bajo de la Campana site, just off the Isla Grosa – which itself features a stunning underwater posidonia oceanica meadow. Indeed, at one site a Phoenician trading ship is concealed beneath a Roman vessel while both sit atop another Phoenician ship.
Use of the site for naval target practice down the years has created a number of hazards, which, consequently, have generated a large collection of wrecks, many in excellent condition.
