Escrivana

Board the boat at L'Estartit and plan for a two-phase dive. The first phase happens at whatever site your guide chooses as the departure point — Ferranelles or Tascó Petit. Then you head south. At 26 metres, three large boulders come out of the blue. All three are draped in red gorgonians from top to base, the fans dense enough that rock is barely visible beneath. No cave, no tunnel, no overhead environment — just open walls facing into blue water. Groupers patrol the gaps between boulders. Nudibranchs work the gorgonian stems at close range. Morays occupy the deeper crevices. Looking up from the bottom of the formation, the water column above is clear enough for pelagic visitors to appear suddenly: barracuda moving in loose groups, and in July and August the occasional eagle ray drifting past.

L'Escrivana is a destination within a destination. Every other Medes site has its own mooring and its own circuit. This one is found by navigating away from the crowded buoy lines, swimming south until the three boulders appear. The gorgonian cover here is uninterrupted. Other sites in the archipelago have gorgonians as part of a broader profile. At L'Escrivana, gorgonians are the entire vertical surface of three large rocks at the outer edge of the reserve. The site receives far fewer divers than Carall Bernat or Dofi Nord. That quietness, combined with the depth and the open-water orientation, makes it feel less like a tourist circuit and more like an extension into the outer Medes.

Gas management is the critical variable. Depths run 26-36 m for the main formation, with 40 m possible if you continue south past the boulders. A 45-50 minute dive at those depths burns through a standard cylinder faster than the shallow circuits do. Nitrox extends your bottom time and is widely available from L'Estartit centres. There is no dedicated mooring, so your compass bearing and distance from the departure buoy matter. First-time visitors should dive with a guide. The boulders are oriented east-west; you approach from the north. To avoid drifting below 36 m, agree a hard depth limit before entering. Thermoclines are sharp in summer: plan exposure for 16-18 degrees at depth, not surface temperature.