Recreational diving in the Region of Murcia

Some of the finest dive sites in the Mediterranean are to be found in the Costa Cálida

Among the many attractions of the Region of Murcia are some of the finest diving sites on the Mediterranean coast of Spain and, in the opinion of some, the whole of the Mediterranean, with the clear water along the Costa Cálida combining with the warm climate, the presence of two of Spain’s eleven marine reserves, a wide range of ecosystems and marine environments, abundant flora and fauna, fascinating wreck dives and spectacular cave visits to provide something for all levels of diver from novices to professional experts.

The two most prestigious areas are, without a doubt, the two marine reserves. One of these, the Reserva Marina de Cabo de Palos e Islas Hormigas, is served by numerous dive centres in Cabo de Palos and Los Belones, while excursions to the other, the Reserva Marina de Cabo Tiñoso, are offered by centres in La Azohía, Puerto de Mazarrón and Cartagena. A full list of all registered dive centres in the Region of Murcia can be consulted here.

However, there are also wide ranges of diving experiences available in the area of Puerto de Mazarrón and Águilas.

Cabo de Palos and the small islands known as Islas Hormigas offer the chance to explore various shipwrecks, many of them dating from the First World Wars, as well as observing abundant marine flora and fauna, and in 2015 the reserve was named the best dive site in Europe: click for a summary of the most popular dives.

Diving along the coast of the headland of Cabo Tiñoso is characterized by the spectacular underwater cave visits, and although La Azohía is still a fishing village such is the popularity of the local dive centres that on occasion there is more dive boat than fishing activity at the little jetty by the church: see here for more information on the varied dives offered in the area.

In Puerto de Mazarrón the best known underwater discoveries have been those of two 2,600-year-old Phoenician boats at Playa de la Isla, and as well as the long, sandy beaches there are plenty of underwater caves and more recent wrecks which attract divers to the area: click for further details.

Águilas, meanwhile, boasts a coastline of 28 kilometres featuring cliffs, dunes and extensive beaches, and offers another impressive selection of attractive dive sites and underwater landscapes: see here for a summary of Águilas dives.

As well as open sea diving, the variety of underwater experiences offered by Costa Cálida dive centres includes numerous wreck dives, some involving vessels sunk by storms or torpedoes and others visiting craft which were deliberately sunk to provide artificial reefs, and cave diving experiences ranging from the easily accessible and spectacular, many of them around Cabo Tiñoso, to the highly technical and dangerous partly explored complex of Cueva del Agua in Isla Plana. Click here for an overview of some of the most popular wreck dives, or here for a summary of cave diving opportunities in the Region of Murcia.