Centro de Buceo Naranjito

Centro de Buceo Naranjito has run from the port of Cabo de Palos since 19 June 2004, one of the longer-established schools on a stretch of coast that is dense with operators. Owner Angel Gallego and director María José Rico lead a team that includes several other named instructors and support staff, teaching under PADI and FEDAS, with SSI and SNSI also held by staff. The centre takes its name from the Naranjito, one of the area's signature wreck dives, but the two are separate: the school runs the wreck as one of several sites, not the other way round.

The work sits inside the Reserva Marina de Cabo de Palos e Islas Hormigas, the protected seabed singled out in 2015 as one of continental Europe's standout dive destinations. That setting shapes the whole offer, organised into three zones: the reserve's bajos, a set of local wrecks that also includes SS Stanfield, Carbonero, Sirio, Minerva, and Nord America, and the coves and tunnels along the cape. A full school runs from bautizos and snorkel trips for first-timers, through PADI and FEDAS certification tracks, to the depth and gas training the Naranjito's stern demands at around 45 m; try dives stay shallow, in the 6 to 12 m band, and Open Water work runs to 18 m.

Boats leave from the centre at C/ Magre, 26, in the port, and run past the lighthouse to the reserve, the wrecks, and the coves, putting divers straight on the site with no shore entry needed. Booking, season, and rates are arranged directly with the centre by phone, WhatsApp, email, or in person.

Feedback is high in volume and consistent on its main theme: reviewers praise attentive, patient instruction on first courses and try dives, describing a warm, familiar atmosphere, and often single out the boat-to-site drop as a practical plus over shore entries.

A small minority of accounts are sharply critical, clustering around two issues: how the centre handled an incident, and a deposit dispute. One diver describes the centre stepping back after an underwater problem and declining to help directly. Another reports a 50 EUR booking deposit, paid in July for a September dive, that was not returned after the centre reassigned the slot to a larger group. These are individual reports, not a pattern across the review base, but they are recent and specific.