Cala Jugadora

The cove sits at the foot of the Cap de Creus lighthouse and is protected by a marine reserve, so the dive starts in clear, shallow water over rock before the bottom steps away. The published profile runs 24 to 30 m across three kinds of ground, rock, Posidonia meadows and tongues of sand, and the edges between them are where the dive gets its interest, since each holds a different set of animals and none of it looks the same as the last stretch.

Along the rocky shore of the cove, calcareous tubeworms grow in the shallows and are worth a slow pass on the way in or out. At the foot of the drop-off, in the scree, combers sit out in the open and are easy to approach, with sargo alongside them and small moray eels in the cracks from time to time. Salema, ornate wrasse, painted combers and blennies fill the shallows in front of the two small beaches.

There is a small rocky islet off the western edge of the cove with a pass between it and the coast, and following that edge is the standard route for anyone staying shallow, snorkellers included: you can enter from either beach or off the surrounding rocks. Nothing about the cove is committing at that depth, and the advanced grade attaches to the 24 to 30 m version of the dive rather than to the water you can see from the surface.