|
Bored
with British waters but unable to afford the Red Sea? One
possibility that might be worth considering is the Mediterranean
coast of Spain. Not the Costa del Sol, but the area just to
the south of the French-Spanish border i.e. Catalonia. During
last summer Ispent four months working at a dive centre in
this area and (though I have no competition winning slides
to prove it) was much impressed by the marine life and underwater
photographic opportunities, particularly for close-up photography.
This
is a rugged, mountainous region with a rocky. much indented
coastline. Good diving is possible either by hard boat or
inflatable or by shore diving in the numerous creeks and inlets.
There are virtually no tides or currents to worry about, and
underwater visibility ranges from 15-30M - not brilliant,
but much better than average British waters.
Below
the surface, the rocks fall quite steeply down to about 30M,
then more gently to 60M and beyond. Invertebrate marine life
is particularly abundant and varied on the drop offs, and
includes several types of soft coral and gorgonians, tube
worms with huge cream coloured whorls of tentacles, all sorts
of brightly coloured anemones, sponges, tunicates and starfish,
and two or three very pretty species of Nudibranch. There
were also a number of octopus, and from time to time, an invasion
of multi-coloured jellyfish - poisonous but photogenic. Fish
species were less spectacular but included numerous bright
red scorpion fish and the odd angler. moray, conger and grouper.
Nearer the surface a cheeky little wrasse species that I must
have spent hours trying to temp between the probes of my close
up lens! All in all, not at all bad for medium to close up
photography.
Opportunities
for wide-angle or available light photography are fewer. There
is little in the way of wrecks, sharks, rays etc or really
outstanding scenery. although one could take endless shots
of divers on drop offs. One dive site that I could recommend
strongly for wide-angle photography are the isles of Medas
near Estartit. Underwater these are riddled with tunnels and
deep caves and can provide some very stimulating diving. I
was fortunate to dive this site with a well organised group
of French divers. The dive involved a swim through a 150M
long tunnell about the same bore as the Piccadilly line. which
went straight through one of the islands at 30M. From the
roof of the tunnel there were lots of narrow chimneys, from
which one could eventually emerge into a rock pool in the
middle of the island. Later we penetrated some 50M into a
cave, emerging at the closed end of an air filled chamber
entirely enclosed in rock. We also had an interesting encounter
with a huge congar eel.
When
you are involved in a group dive of this type, there are good
opportunities for wide-angle shots of divers, bubbles. light
effects from torches etc., all sihouetted against the outline
of the tunnel or cave entrance. Don't forget, however, that
in these situations you will need some artificial light -
perhaps a torch strapped to your head - in order to read your
light meter, adjust your focussing and aperture etc. I made
the rather elementary mistake of entrusting all lighting responsibilities
to my buddy! Also make sure your vantage point is taken up
well in advance of the rest of the group! This type of diving
requires more than the usual foresight and planning, both
from the photographic and safety point of view.
Perhaps
the best way of diving this area of Spain would be to drive
out there in a small group (about 15 hours from Calais), taking
an inflatable and engine (though shore diving provides plenty
of scope for photography). There are a number of dive centres
offering hardboat diving. but I would not particularly recommend
these to photographersq except as a source of information
and air. The largest centre is at the Club Mediterranee village
near Cadaques (where I worked). This is well organised, but
all diving is compulsorily in groups of 5 or 6 with a guide.
Private browsing around with a camera can be problematic,
although there is the occasional organised 'photo dive' and
on site processing. Other centres are German, Belgian and
British-run, and although I have no first hand experience
of these I gathered that again most of the diving is in large
groups, and in some cases there is undue pressure to get into
and out of the water as quickly as possible.
Organising
one's own diving would almost certainly require special clearance
from the Spanish authorities, who tend to want to see evidence
of diving qualificationsq medical fitness and insurance, but
otherwise there should be no particular problems. Incidentally,
there is a complete and strictly enforced ban on removing
any animal or plant from the sea without a special licence,
which must go some way to explaining the abundant marine life.
I
should perhaps add a word of warning about the weather in
this part of Spain. Although its hot and sunny about half
the time, in my experience the rain in Spain falls mainly
on the coast (not the plain), and on this particular coast
there is also a persistant north westerly wind, known locally
as the l,trimontagnell which blows up regularly to about force
7 every ten days or so. Due to the nature of the coast, its
always possible to find a dive site even when conditions are
a bit off, but its worth packing plenty of warm clothing and
an oilskin, as well as the suntan cream. Surface water temperatures
are about 22-24°C throughout the summer. nut except in
June and July, there's often a sharp thermocline at about
25M, below which things get distinctly chilly.
If
any member would like further information on diving in Catalan
please contact me. Robert Dinwiddie, .57 Rashleigh House,
Thanet Street, London WC1. Tel. 01 388 4638.
Reproduced
from in focus 11 (Aug.
1985) |
