Cabo de Palos & Islas Hormigas · Spain · Seamount · Reef · Wall
Bajo de Dentro
A rock needle to 3 m, with a conger cave at 22 m on its east side
Photo: Jouni Kuisma, DiveCodex · CC BY-SA 4.0
The inner seamount of the Cabo de Palos and Islas Hormigas reserve, a rocky needle that comes up to 3 m of the surface. Its north side carries a platform at 15 to 20 m and its east side a cave about 15 m long in 22 m of water, held by large conger eels. Groupers, barracuda and shoals of amberjack work the rock, and every dive here is booked through an authorised centre.
Where it is and how deep
37.6461° N, 0.6656° WPublished position for this site.
The dive
Bajo de Dentro is a rocky needle rising to within 3 m of the surface, the nearer of the two bajos the reserve was drawn around. Descents run down the line to the rock and the route from there is the guide's: the north side opens onto a platform at 15 to 20 m, which is the working depth for most of the dive, and the shallower rock above it is where the group finishes and hangs the safety stop.
On the east side of the rock there is a cave about 15 m long sitting in 22 m of water, the deepest part of the normal circuit and home to large conger eels. It is the one feature on the site with a fixed position, so it usually sets the shape of the dive: down and along the east face to the cave, then back up onto the platform and the summit rather than across open water.
The fish are what the protection since 1995 has bought. Groupers of both small and good size hold on the rock, barracuda and shoals of amberjack pass over it, and dentex, corvina and sea bream move through with moray eels and lobsters in the cracks. Gorgonians grow on the deeper faces. Numbers are capped daily across the reserve, so the rock is rarely crowded with divers.
Marine life and season
- Groupers
- Barracuda
- Trevally & jacks
- Reef fish swarms
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair |
Season follows Cabo de Palos & Islas Hormigas: Jun–Oct has the warmest water and the calmest crossings; winter is clearest but cold, and easterly winds close the seamounts year-round.
Know before you go
- Offshore rock with moderate current that shifts with wind and swell; stay with the guide and use the mooring line for descent and ascent.
- The cave on the east side is a swim-through in 22 m of water, not an open-water detour: go in only behind a guide who dives it regularly.
- The summit comes to 3 m under a boat lane, so hold the safety stop on the line rather than drifting off the rock.
Photos from Bajo de Dentro
Jouni Kuisma, DiveCodex · CC BY-SA 4.0
Dive videos
LOCURA EN LAS AGUJAS (BAJO DE DENTRO-CABO PALOS) · JUAN ORTIZ BUCEO on YouTube
Questions divers ask
How deep is Bajo de Dentro?+
The rock comes up to 3 m and the north-side platform runs at 15 to 20 m. The deepest normal point is the cave on the east side, which sits in 22 m of water.
Do I need to book through a dive centre?+
Yes. The site is inside the Cabo de Palos and Islas Hormigas marine reserve, established in 1995, where recreational diving is allowed only through authorised centres and within a daily quota of divers.
Sources
- Bajo de Dentro dive site — PADI
- Where do we dive? — Centro de Buceo Islas Hormigas
- Cape Palos — Wikipedia
Photo credits
- Long-legged spider crab among yellow cluster anemones on the rock by Jouni Kuisma, DiveCodex, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Pink aeolid nudibranch crawling over encrusted rock underwater by Jouni Kuisma, DiveCodex, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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