Dragonera

The dive runs along the rock inside one of five licensed strips on the west coast, each 50 m wide: Cabo Tramuntana, Cova de sa Finestra, Far Vell, Punta de s'Alga and Cabo Llebeig.1 Between them the wall is cut by caves.

Cabo Llebeig, at the southern end, carries the deepest wall. It passes 35 m and may reach 50 m or more, and the blue deepens as it falls. Rays, shoals of dentex, groupers and tuna are possible along it.

Cabo Tramuntana, at the northeastern end, is an underwater mountain with walls past 30 m, circled in open water. Barracuda shoals can be large here, and the open blue needs as much attention as the wall does.

On the north side a platform of fallen cliff blocks lies under Posidonia and macroalgae. Groupers, scorpionfish, brown meagre, conger, brotulas, dentex and octopus use the gaps between the blocks.

Dragonera is wall from the surface down: the island's calcareous cliffs carry on under the surface as vertical rock, with the blue opening on the far side. Tramuntana adds a mountain to circle in open water, a different dive from the south wall at the other end of the coast.

Behind the strips runs a band of integral reserve open only to authorised science, so the water a diver gets is a thin margin along a protected shore.

State-water scuba authorisations are granted for a specific date, in order of application, until the quota is full.2 The quota is 5,000 dives a year for dive businesses and 750 for private divers, and a business boat carries at most 12 divers, a private one 6.1 Boats entering the reserve report by VHF 16 or the phone numbers on their authorisation.

Standard EANx32 reaches its maximum operating depth near 33 m, so the lower Llebeig wall calls for a mix agreed with the operator for the planned depth.