Diving in Alicante

Two marine reserves anchor this stretch of the Mediterranean. Tabarca's waters, protected since 1986, were the first marine reserve declared in Spain; Cabo de San Antonio's, off Denia and Javea, followed in 1993. Between and around them, a limestone coast turns into caves, arches, and walls rather than big wrecks or strong-current pinnacles.

Cova dels Arcs, tucked into the cliffs near Benitatxell, is the area's calling card for cavern diving: three natural arches lit by daylight the whole way through. Cabo de San Antonio drops its reserve wall to sandy channels below the 150m cape. Isla de Benidorm packs a sheltered wall and an exposed pinnacle into one boat trip off the resort strip, and Cala Granadella offers the easiest shore entry on the coast. Tabarca's artificial reef, four concrete structures and three sunken fishing boats set in the 1990s, sits under the tightest quota of any site here.

Grouper and moray show up across nearly every sector. Octopus and seahorses are common on the reserve sites in particular. Eagle rays and sunfish pass through in summer, along with occasional dolphins. Worth watching for, but not something to plan a dive around.

Compared with Cabo de Palos or the Illes Medes further along the coast, Alicante trades the biggest grouper aggregations for calmer, year-round conditions. Dive centres here operate in multiple languages, reflecting the coast's large resident northern-European population. August brings more boat traffic; the trade-off is a coast that dives easily most of the year.

Tabarca requires prior authorisation and a per-zone daily quota of 7 or 10 divers, arranged through an authorised boat from Santa Pola or Alicante; book ahead for summer weekends. Cabo de San Antonio allows recreational diving without an individual permit, so reserve access there is far more straightforward. The rest of the coast, including the Penyal d'Ifac at Calpe and the Serra Gelada waters around Isla de Benidorm, carries natural-park status but no diving permit or quota.

May to October suits warmth and beginners; April-June and September-November bring more marine-life encounters and fewer boats. Winter divers chase the year's clearest visibility. Beginners start at shore coves such as Granadella or Cala el Raco, then move up to the reserve walls and Isla de Benidorm once certified; La Punta's 30m-plus profile calls for Advanced Open Water.

A limestone Prebetic coast: vertical cliffs over 150m at Cabo de San Antonio, submerged arches, chimneys and cavern systems, rocky reefs, and wide Posidonia oceanica meadows, with sandy channels in the sheltered bays.