Cova de la Sal

A short hop south by boat from L'Escala port lands you above the cove, with the surface cave's mouth visible in the cliff face. The dive itself ignores that opening — it descends down the cliff at the entry point and runs along the rock toward open sea. The first six to twelve metres are clean wall: cracks, fissures, the kind of orientation a beginner can settle into. Past the cliff the terrain opens into a landscape of large boulders and rocky cavities at 12 to 18 metres, with Posidonia meadows in the gaps. This is the macro band: octopus tucked under boulders, cuttlefish in the seagrass, sea bream above. The swim-through arrives at around 17 metres — short, lit at both ends, the only overhead element of the dive. Past the swim-through the cavities continue down toward 26 metres if the buddy team wants depth, but most of the dive's interest is in the 12 to 18 metre band. Ascent runs back along the wall to the safety stop under the boat.

Every coast has a dive that earns its keep on bad days. Cova de la Sal is that dive on the L'Escala side of the Costa del Montgrí, and it has held the role for at least the decade that L'Escala centres have been running first-dive videos here. The cove blocks tramuntana and levant. There is no current. The entry is shallow, the maximum is 26 metres, and the swim-through at 17 is short enough that beginners can pass it under escort. The surface cave is genuinely unusual as a feature in itself — a sea-level void large enough that paddleboards use it as a turnaround point — but it is not the dive. The dive is the cliff, the cavities, and the swim-through. A regular Costa Brava diver put it bluntly on a 2011 forum thread listing the area's recommended sites: "Cova de la Sal — it isn't a cave, it's the name of the site." That correction is the right anchor for the page. Divers who arrive expecting a cavern penetration will be disappointed; divers who arrive expecting a calm, sheltered, octopus-rich coast dive get exactly that.

Bring a torch. The swim-through and the deeper rocky cavities reward inspection, and without a light most of the colour on the walls disappears. The site departs from L'Escala port, which changes logistics meaningfully if you have been diving the rest of the week from L'Estartit — different harbour, different drive. Cala Montgó in summer is busy at the surface with kayakers, paddleboards, and beach swimmers, and the cave mouth is a tourist landmark, so your boat will moor inside ordinary water traffic rather than a quiet dive site. Mid-July visibility can drop to around 8 metres on plankton days; expect that range when planning. No permit, no quota, no booking system — but the site is popular for beginner and group dives, so check availability with the centre when planning rather than assuming a slot.