Cabo Tiñoso (La Azohía, Isla Plana & Puerto de Mazarrón) · Spain · Reef · Wall
Cala Cerrada
A cove sheltered from wind and swell, 10 m to 30 m
Photo: Ingegneriadell´elizia · CC BY 3.0
Cala Cerrada — the closed cove — is the sheltered end of this coast's diving, protected from wind and waves inside the Cabo Tiñoso marine reserve and dived at every level. Profiles run from 10 m to a maximum of 30 m: macro life on the cliff walls in the shallows, groupers, sea bass and kingfish deeper down, and tuna out in the blue.
Where it is and how deep
37.5409° N, 1.1534° WPublished position for this site.
The dive
The appeal is the shelter. The cove is closed enough to stay diveable when wind and waves shut other sites down, and the dive works the cliff that forms it. The shallow band, from about 10 m, is where the small things are — macro fauna on the walls, and the uncommon finds the operator lists here, John Dory and seahorses. It is slow, close-up diving rather than a swim with a destination.
Deeper, the ground runs to a maximum of 30 m and the fish get bigger: groupers, sea bass and kingfish along the rock, barracuda in mid-water, and tuna out in the blue if you turn away from the wall. Outside the cove the bottom reaches 30 m and holds the remains of a small boat, now lived in by conger and moray. A red-marble monolith at the cove commemorates victims of terrorism in Spain.
Marine life and season
- Groupers
- Tuna
- Barracuda
- Trevally & jacks
- Macro critters
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair | Fair |
Season follows Cabo Tiñoso (La Azohía, Isla Plana & Puerto de Mazarrón): June to September is the comfortable window, and visibility can reach 30 m against a 15 m average; centres run trips year-round, with winter water near 15 °C.
Know before you go
- The 30 m ground and the small boat's remains sit outside the shelter of the cove — take that leg first and work back into the shallows rather than the other way round.
Sources
- Cala Cerrada — Scubago — Scubago
- Guía de puntos de buceo en Mazarrón y en la Reserva Marina de Cabo Tiñoso — Buceo Hispania
Photo credits
- A sailboat and two kayaks anchored in the sheltered, turquoise waters of Cala Cerrada, ringed by dry rocky cliffs by Ingegneriadell´elizia, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
More dive sites in Cabo Tiñoso (La Azohía, Isla Plana & Puerto de Mazarrón)
Seamount
A ridge crest at 14 m with a statue on the seabed below
Seamount
A shoal topping out at 10 m with a 30 m drop and hard backlight
Reef
Two dives in one cove: 20 m to the west, canyons to the east
Groupers hold in the frames of a scuttled minesweeper
Seamount
A submerged rock arch at 5–8 m with a shoal running south
Reef
Cobbles and posidonia at 6 m, a rocky wall out to 20 m
A reddish cut in the Cabo Tiñoso cliffs, down to 30 m
Reef
An island wall from 2 m to 18 m over posidonia meadow
Similar dives elsewhere
Canyons, rifts and drop-offs between 10 and 30 m
Circle the reef from 18 to 32 m, with the Phedon's remains on it
The sheltered fallback dive when the Tramontane blows
.JPG){kind=link}
Two faces of a rocky islet: boulders to 26 m, Posidonia shallows and barracuda shoals