Costa Brava — Palamós, Llafranc & Begur

Six centres share this coast: Dive Center Palamós, Gidive and H2O Diving in Palamós, Triton Diving on Plaça dels Pins in Llafranc, Stollis Divebase on the Tamariu seafront and Begur Dive on Aiguablava beach. Almost everything is a day-boat run from the town harbours, mostly under ten minutes and under thirty for the rest; Begur Dive counts more than ten sites within ten minutes of Aiguablava, and one operator quotes a 25-minute run to the Ullastres off Calella. Shore entries exist too: the Tamariu house reef is walked in from the beach, and Cala Margarida at Palamós has a pool ladder at the end of the cove. H2O keeps beginners to sites with a 20 m maximum.

Most of the catalogue is wall diving. Els Ullastres are three separate seamounts about 500 m south of Cap de Sant Sebastià, the top of the third at 8 m, and the catalogue lists them, El Cau, the Canons de Tamariu and the Formigues as wall dives. Triton says walls of gorgonians predominate from Cap de Begur to Palamós; Stollis calls Cala Nova densely populated with sea fans and Furió d'Aigua Xelida notable for morays and lobsters. At El Montiell large congers are abundant. Ullastre I is listed with octopus, nudibranchs and slipper lobsters, Cala Margarida with numerous nudibranchs. Grouper and red coral were once common on the Ullastres but have become rare through indiscriminate fishing.

The deep sites are the exception, not the norm. Ullastre II and III fall to 53–54 m, the Boreas lies at 18–32 m and Furió Fitó runs from 16 m to 54 m with current at times; all four are rated CMAS two-star or Advanced Open Water. El Tabal, the lighthouse reef, is met at 22 m on a plateau that slopes south and ends in a steep wall to the north, and the catalogue calls it advanced-only on its depth profile. Cap de Begur is dived as a drift over three rocky bars, the outer one about 37 m and the second around 30 m. Boat traffic is a listed hazard at the Pinell, Ullastre I, the Boreas and Furió d'Aigua Xelida, and depth and current at Ullastre III, Furió Fitó and the Canons.

It suits divers who want shallow bays, reef dives and a few serious profiles from the same boat. All-diver sites include the Pinell bays, Cala Margarida, the Formigues and El Montiell; Ullastre I, El Cau, Cap Roig and Furió d'Aigua Xelida are rated CMAS one-star or Open Water, so a new diver has a week here without touching the deep list. No permit or diving fee is recorded for any site named here. Divers who want reserve-grade grouper should carry on north to the Medes Islands, where the reserve rules apply.