Diving in Cabo de Gata

More than 45 km of dark volcanic coast run from the cape to Carboneras, and the sea has cut the rock into caves, tunnels, canyons and craters. The coast is the Parque Natural de Cabo de Gata-Níjar, and its waters carry two layers of protection: the park's own inner waters and, offshore of them, a state marine reserve created in 1995. Most diving is in sheltered coves at 5 to 14 m, where bottom times of around an hour are normal.

Cueva del Francés is a naturally lit cavern on the line between the two centre areas, with groupers holding at its mouth. La Amatista cuts shallow canyons into a rocky shelf below a clifftop viewpoint, and protected nacras stand in the Posidonia between them. Cala Higuera is a sheltered cove east of San José where orange coral lines a rock canyon, and Las Hermanicas, a shallow shelf off La Isleta del Moro, is the dive that keeps running when levante wind shuts the exposed sites.

The deep end is a short list. El Vapor is the Czechoslovak merchant ship Arna, sunk in 1928 after striking the laja under a mile from the lighthouse, and it lies at 28 to 42 m. Centres generally take only advanced divers there, after seeing how you dive, and strong currents are common on it. Piedra de los Meros is an open-sea seamount at 25 to 32 m where large groupers, morays and barracuda schools gather, with a bottom time of about 20 minutes on air.

Groupers and brown meagre favour the caves, morays and octopus the rock, and nudibranchs draw macro photographers to Cala Higuera.

Almería airport is the gateway, and a car is essential: no public transport links the coastal villages. San José lies toward the cape and La Isleta del Moro further north, with ISUB, open in San José since 1998, among the longer-established centres. A week split between the two bases reaches both stretches. Booking a few days ahead is the usual advice, because turning up and diving the same day rarely works.

Permission depends on where the dive happens. In the reserve's exterior waters it comes from the Subdelegación del Gobierno en Almería, and in the park's inner waters from the Junta de Andalucía's environment department. The reserve's rules come from Orden ARM/1744/2011.1 Centres hold their own annual authorisation, so a guided diver books a boat and dives.

Choose the level before the site. The coves and caves are gentle, while El Vapor and the open-sea dives are where centres screen divers and ask for experience. Expect the exposed sites to be the first dropped when levante blows.