La Herradura Playa (Western side)

Walk down the parking ramp at the western end of La Herradura's main beach, kit up on the sand, and step into the bay. The first ten metres of fin work is over flat sand at chest depth, then the floor drops gently to a 3-12m sandy plain that centres simply call "La Playita" and use as the area's training and try-dive zone. Light here is bright and pale, the bottom is featureless in a useful way for skills work, and seahorses occasionally turn up in the algae patches if a guide knows where to look. Carry on west and the sand gives way to a low rocky flank: small swim-throughs, low-relief outcrops, and Alcyonium palmatum (dead man's fingers) on the overhangs. Octopuses sit in the cracks, scorpionfish press flat against the rock, moray eels watch from holes. The rocky line runs to about 20m at its far end. Most divers turn back well before that, finishing on the sand at 5-6m for a relaxed safety stop.

The western shallow is the bay's everyday site, not its destination dive, and that is the point. Centres put try-divers and OW students here because the carry from car park to water is the shortest in La Herradura and the sand floor is forgiving. Divers logging two tanks pair it with a Punta de la Mona or Piedras Altas boat dive earlier in the day. And it is the bay's effective night-dive option: the Paraje Natural restricts night activity at most other sites, so the small group that wants to look for octopus and conger after dark almost always ends up here. The macro on the western rocks - octopus, scorpionfish, moray, the occasional nudibranch sweep - rewards a slow second dive of the day rather than a chase for depth.

Wind direction sets the day. Poniente (west wind) sharpens visibility on this western shallow and the rocky flank cleans up; summer Levante or any beach swell silts the sand and visibility drops to 5-10m on the same stretch. Centres recommend morning entries for calmer water and better light. Sand discipline matters - rinse regulators and the BCD inflator thoroughly after every dive. The beach is busy in summer with watercraft traffic, so an SMB on ascent and a surface tow back to shore are routine. The bay shore is inside the Paraje Natural de Maro-Cerro Gordo and the recreational-diving authorisation lives with the dive centre, not with you - book through a Junta de Andalucia-registered local operator and the regulatory side is handled. Costs run around 25-35 EUR for a guided beach dive with your own gear, 45-50 EUR with full rental.