Mediterranean Scuba Diving Within The Medes Islands Marine Reserve

Upwards of 1,345 different marine species have been cataloged there since Jacques Cousteau went scuba diving there and the Medes Islands ecosystem is justly classified as the exemplary natural reserve in the western Mediterranean.

Defence of the islands first began in 1983, and in 1990 the protection was enlarged to the seabed flora and fauna, encouraging a spectacular recovery of the ecosystems and changing the area into a refuge for numerous species on the brink of extinction. The ecosystems supporting marine seagrasses like Posidonia oceanica are particularly productive as they are the breeding habitats for many significant species.

The Medes Islands Protected Zone covers an area of 93,2 hectares with an additional protected 418 hectare area stretching up to the Montgri coast. A new Natural Park has been pledged by the Catalan Government to include the coast to the north all the way to Cala Montgo, L'Escala.

Tunnels at Medes Islands Marine Reserve
The plentiful tunnels and caves show that this limestone archipelago was attached to the Montgri Massif over ten thousand years ago. Today caves around the Medes Islands and up the Montgrí coast towards L'Escala provide unforgetable opportunities for divers to experience (with a dive guide) the typical species that elect to live in semi-darkness.

One of the most famous sites at Iles Medes is Dolphin Cave, because of a statue at the southern entrance. Within is a home for large groupers, meagres and shoals of silvery bream. Along the reef outside divers glide through shoals of bream and clouds of anthias whilst also looking out into the blue for cruising eagle rays and visiting sunfish and dolphins.

There's an often overlooked cave system close by with its groupers, always ready to pose for photographs, illuminated by a vast funnel. Yellow cup corals cover the walls and camouflaged scorpionfish perch unnoticed on ledges. Mediterranean moray eels and congers live in cracks in the rocks. From here a handy tunnel leads back through the island and out onto the reef again, past the most beautiful yellow and red gorgonian corals.

Scuba Diving at Medes Islands Marine Reserve
There are 10 buoyed dive sites, allowing diving all year around. A variety of depths provides dives for all levels, and even snorkelers can enjoy the amazing variety of undersea marine life of the Medes Islands. In the shallow depths we can peer into a dense blanket of brightly lit seaweeds with over a hundred species hosting shoals of silvery bream, colourful wrasse, and exquisite nudibranchs. Under 10-15 meters we find light-deprived algae and pretty pink sea perch, large predatory dentex, eagle rays, octopus, lobster and big, friendly groupers. Below 20 meters we enter an area of gorgonian corals inhabited by over 600 species.

The Medes Islands Protected Zone, with its 65,000 divers every year , is an example of good stewardship. Throughout 2009 scuba divers assisted with an assessment of the the Illas Medes ecosystems by answering questionnaires following their dives. Questions asked about the abundance of different species seen and the number of divers, snorkelers and boats seen at the dives sites.

This working evaluation of the Medes Islands Reserve will demonstrate the level of control required to safeguard this small archipelago for future generations. An area of exceptional ecological value, all the underwater environments to be found in the Mediterranean are represented in the sea around the Medes Islands, making the area one of the most exciting sites for Mediterranean scuba diving.

Mediterranean Scuba Diving Within The Medes Islands Marine Reserve
Did you know that Jacques Cousteau visited the Medes Islands in his marine research vessel Calypso back in 1955? He drew attention to the need to research, record and preserve the rich ecosystems that he found whilst scuba diving there.

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