Costa Brava Guide

The special ecological value of the seabed of the Medes is the result of two factors: the proximity to the mouth of the River Ter, whose organic sediment feeds the marine fauna, and the influence of the tides and north winds which are characteristic of the Gulf of Lions. Consequently, we can find as many as 1,350 classifications of marine flora and fauna, an ecosystem which has merited the classification of the finest reserve in the western Mediterranean.

The different depths allow for all types of dives, for beginners and experts, who can observe gorgonians, corals, starfish, octopuses, lobsters and many more at a depth of less than 10 metres. Spotlights make it possible to discover the posidonia meadow and, below 20 metres, the coral landscape. You will see shoals of bream, predatory fish, all kinds of crustaceans and the king of the area, the grouper. And throughout the dive, a spectacle of life and colour.

Numerous caves and tunnels indicate that this archipelago, of limestone rock, belonged to the massif over ten thousand years ago. Today the caves offer surprising dives for experts, both in the islands themselves and along the coast: the caves of La Vaca, La Sardina, Dofí Nord, the tunnel of La Pedrosa, etc.

Close to the islands lies the Reggio Messina, a ship that was intentionally sunk here in 1991, the biggest ship visitable by divers on the Costa Brava. The vessel Avenire sank off Cala Montgó in 1971; it is known as the “Marmoler”, the “marble ship”, because of the load of marble it still carries in its holds. It is the only ship conserved in its entirety along this coast.