Med Dive Experiences Within The Illes Medes Protected Zone
More than 1,345 different marine species have been discovered there since Jacques Cousteau went scuba diving there and the Medes Islands ecosystem is justly classified as the finest natural reserve in the western Mediterranean.
Conservation of Iles Medes began in 1983, and in 1990 the protection was extended to the seabed flora and fauna, encouraging a spectacular recovery of the ecosystems and making the area into a refuge for numerous species faced with extinction. The zones supporting marine seagrasses like Posidonia oceanica are especially productive as they are the breeding habitats for many important species.
The Medes Islands Protected Zone covers an area of 93,2 hectares with another 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.
Caverns at Medes Islands Marine Reserve
The plentiful tunnels and caves give the clue 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 excellent opportunities for divers to experience (with a divemaster) the distinctive species that choose to live in semi-darkness.
One of the most famous sites at Iles Medes is Dolphin Cave, given this name a statue at the southern entrance. Within is a refuge for large groupers, meagres and shoals of silvery bream. Along the reef outside divers glide through shoals of bream and clouds of anthias whilst watching out into the blue for cruising eagle rays and visiting sunfish and dolphins.
There's a second cave system close by with its groupers, always ready to pose for photographs, illuminated by a great funnel. Yellow cup corals cover the walls and camouflaged scorpionfish perch hidden on ledges. Mediterranean moray eels and congers live in crevices. From here a further tunnel leads back through the island and out onto the reef again, via the most beautiful yellow and red gorgonian corals.
Scuba Diving at Medes Islands Marine Reserve
There are 10 buoyed dive sites, providing diving during every season. A range of depths provides dives for all levels, and even snorkelers can enjoy the amazing abundance of subaqua marine life of the Medes Islands. In the shallow zones we can delve into a dense mantle of brightly lit seaweeds with over a hundred species hosting shoals of silvery bream, colourful wrasse, and delightful nudibranchs. Below 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 a model of good stewardship. In 2009 scuba divers took part in an assessment of the the Iles Medes ecosystems by completing questionnaires following their dives. Questions asked about the abundance of different species observed and the number of divers, snorkelers and boats present at the dives sites.
This working appraisal of the Medes Islands Reserve will demonstrate the level of conservation required to safeguard this little archipelago for future generations. An area of exceptional ecological significance, all the underwater environments to be found in the Mediterranean are represented in the seabed around the Medes Islands, making the area one of the most exciting sites for Mediterranean scuba diving.
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