Mediterranean Dive Experiences In The Medes Islands Marine Reserve
More than 1,345 different marine species have been cataloged there since Jacques Cousteau went scuba diving there and the Medes Islands ecosystem is deservedly classified as the exemplary natural reserve in the western Mediterranean.
Defence of the Medes Islands started in 1983, and in 1990 the protection was expanded to the seabed flora and fauna, encouraging a spectacular recovery of the indigenous species and changing the area into a sanctuary 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 crucial 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 proclaimed by the Catalan Government to include the coast north all the way to Cala Montgo, L'Escala.
Tunnels at Medes Islands Marine Reserve
The numerous 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 separate species that like to live in semi-darkness.
One of the most acclaimed sites at the Medes Islands is Dolphin Cave, because of a statue at the southern entrance. Inside 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 another cave system close by with its groupers, always ready to pose for photographs, illuminated by a great funnel. Yellow cup corals adorn the walls and camouflaged scorpionfish perch hidden on ledges. Mediterranean moray eels and congers live in cracks in the rocks. From here another 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 immersions for all levels, and even snorkelers can enjoy the amazing abundance of undersea marine life of the Medes Islands. In the shallow areas we can peer into a dense blanket of brightly lit seaweeds with over a hundred species hosting shoals of silvery bream, colourful wrasse, and delicate nudibranchs. Beneath 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 upwards of 600 species.
The Medes Islands Protected Zone, with its 65,000 dives each year, is an example of good management. Throughout 2009 scuba divers assisted with an assessment of the the Illas Medes ecosystems by filling out questionnaires following their dives. Questions asked about the abundance of different species seen and the number of divers, snorkelers and boats present at the dives sites.
The continuing evaluation of the Medes Islands Reserve will inform 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 floor around the Medes Islands, making the area one of the most exciting sites for Mediterranean scuba diving.
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