La Sirena

Four boats line the quay at Passeig Maritim 2 every morning between April and November. Diving Center La Sirena has been sending them to the Medes Islands since 1969, putting it among the longest continuously-operating dive shops on the Costa Brava. The centre frames itself as a family that meets again every season, and the staff list bears that out — instructors and skippers like Sonny, Mayra, Sabina, Guy, Jordi and Nuria recur across years of reviews.

The fleet is the most-cited feature. All four boats carry rear lifts that let divers ride out of the water rather than haul up a ladder. Three also have toilets, upper solariums, and glass-bottom decks. Steel tanks come in 12 and 15 litre sizes with dual DIN/INT valves; nitrox is on request. SSI courses span the full recreational range, and a Catalan-required Natural Park check dive runs before any descent in the integral reserve.

A separate snorkel programme runs from the same harbour and is the centre's main route for non-diving visitors. Lockable gear boxes and an automated hot-air wetsuit dryer sit at the shore base. The affiliated Flamingo Hotel and Camping La Sirena provide showers, training rooms, and extra storage for longer stays.

Across 620 Google ratings (4.7 average) and 306 TripAdvisor reviews (4.4 average), the same notes recur. Boat quality and crew competence dominate the positive reviews — an experienced CMAS diver with nearly 1,200 logged dives rated La Sirena five stars and singled out the rear lifts and skipper professionalism as setting "an example for others". Family-friendly facilities, repeated staff names across years, and the snorkel circuit around all seven islets draw consistent praise.

Two recurring critical themes are worth surfacing honestly. Some divers describe a compressed pace that leaves limited breathing room between activities — "let us breathe", as one French reviewer put it. A few experienced divers have also found the reserve site rotation repetitive across consecutive days. Both reflect inherent tensions of high-volume Medes-reserve operation rather than centre-specific issues — the integral reserve has a finite list of permitted sites — but they are honest framings divers planning a multi-day trip should know about.