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Journalist and content creator. Specialised in tourism and sports.
We know how passionate you are about diving, that snorkelling is one of your favourite pastimes, and that you are crazy about the Costa Brava.
And that’s why we’ve come up with a range of unique options based around twelve different thematic areas for you to select from according to your own personal interests. Twelve distinct areas of natural interest in the underwater world aimed at learning more about the biodiversity of this fabulous maritime environment that you love so much.
Hands up if an encounter with a giant grouper is always top of your list when you are diving! And step forward everyone who adores the feeling of swimming among sea fans and coral.
These are just two of the eco-guided diving routes that have been developed by Association of Diving Centres on the Costa Brava as part of an initiative to create customised routes tailored to individual interests based around twelve core areas to enable divers to learn more about biodiversity, marine fishing environments and the most significant species that inhabit this zone. In addition to corals and great groupers, specific routes have also been devised for discovering seahorses, the inhabitants of the Neptune grass meadows and sandy bottoms; the nudibranchs;marine biotopes and wrecks; the deep blue sea and special fish; the fish shoals; species without heads or feet (sponges, fan worms and anemones, amongst others); hidden in the shadows (spiny , European and slipper lobsters); small colourful fish; predators (moray eels, congers, octopus and scorpion fish); and guardians of the sea.
You can learn about the natural features of each thematic area and how to preserve them from illustrated support materials that provide a fascinating compendium of information.
In addition, a specific emblematic dive related to each of the twelve areas of interest has also been selected, which delves deeper into the relevant field with detailed narration. These dives can be found on the website, as well as at diving centres in the form of printed handouts.
They are accompanied by an exhaustive online catalogue of more than 150 dives classified according to zone and the different core area of underwater natural interest to which they relate.
A logbook has also been created for divers to record all the dives they have completed on their quest to create their own personalised route. The principal aim of producing this personal record of dives, along with building loyalty, is to highlight the lesser known or valued aspects of recreational diving by posing the challenge of completing the whole route.
The project is topped off with a video and decalogue on good diving practices, as well as a sheet outlining the safety regulations for scuba diving in Catalonia. This project represents the culmination of several initiatives promoted by Costa Brava Sub, co-funded by the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) through the Costa Brava Local Fishing Action Group (GALP).
And beyond these thematic eco-guided routes, Costa Brava Sub can also advise you on getting the most from your diving. Depending on your level, you can select from diving on shipwrecks, in tunnels or on rocky walls at varying depths, through caves and narrow passages, in open coves, marine reserves, initiation dives… All set in incredible places that attract divers from all around the world.
And if snorkelling is your thing they can take you to the best spots on the Costa Brava for that too. Equipped with a snorkel, mask, fins and a wetsuit and accompanied by guides who are not only divers, but experts in the flora and fauna of the sea, you can discover multi-coloured nudibranchs, fan mussels and white sea fans, while learning to recognise the most common fish, such damsels and varieties of sea bream.
Photos: Association of Costa Brava Diving Centres and PTCBG Image Archive
