La Huerta

Bogas and sargo hang overhead from the first metres, where the descent line reaches rocky ground at 5-6m. In spring through autumn juvenile anchovy and sardine work the upper water, sometimes with bonito or little tunny driving them from below. The route follows the side of a pinnacle down into the orange-coral zone, where Astroides calycularis and yellow Parazoanthus axinellae coat the rock in a deep yellow-orange skin. This is the macro section: nudibranchs sit across the walls and overhangs.

At about 15m the rock gives way to sand and rubble. Torpedo rays lie in the rubble, stingrays settle part-buried on the open sand, and in summer and autumn eagle rays cross low over the bottom. Groupers, morays and lobsters back into the crevices of the pillars next to the sand, so the work here is a slow look into holes. The deepest point sits at the rock edge by the white sand at 19-21m. When the current runs, the dive is a drift along the wall and the loop gives way to a one-way line.

The return crosses crevice rock and boulder ground at 5-8m and ends in the pozas at 3-5m. The safety stop has its own programme there, with morays in the cracks and small wrasse on the move.

Four habitats stack up inside one 45-minute profile: sandy ray ground, an encrusted pinnacle, a crevice wall and a shallow boulder pool. Each holds a different cast, and the overlap of rocky-reef and sand communities is where the variety comes from. The name, "the orchard", is a local nod to how thickly the pinnacles are grown over with yellow anemones and orange coral.

It all sits inside 21 metres. The pinnacles and the sand floor are reachable on one tank by a diver who has a few logged dives, and the dive keeps its interest to the last metres of the ascent.

The orange coral and the encrusting anemones grow slowly and do not recover from contact, so buoyancy is the skill this dive tests. A check on the descent line pays off, and the rock is for looking at from a hover. Water runs cool for much of the year, with 13-15°C in midwinter, so the exposure suit is worth a conversation with the centre before a spring or winter booking.

On high tidal coefficient days the current decides where the dive goes, so settle the direction and the exit plan with the guide on the boat, before anyone descends.