Malgrats Piscina

Giant-stride off a small boat into calm, clear, shallow water — that is the Piscina experience in full. The sheltered natural pool among the Malgrats islands sits at 3-6m, with a sandy bottom close underfoot and water that stays bright in most conditions. There is no current. Instructors use it for skills practice and Discover Scuba sessions because the environment is as controlled as a pool, without being an empty one: the protected fish of the Malgrats reserve drift through even at these depths, so a first-time diver here sees Mediterranean reef species rather than bare sand. Barracuda, moray eels, groupers and octopus are part of the reserve's wider fauna that moves freely through the shallows. The dive is unhurried and short. Mask clears and buoyancy checks at 3m; a circuit of the sandy bottom; back on the boat relaxed.

Most beginner dive sites are training pools and nothing more — cleared sandy patches where the only purpose is practising skills in calm water. The Piscina is a training site inside a marine reserve. The protection that rebuilt the El Toro-Malgrats fish community since 2004 extends here: species that have never been fished out drift into even the shallowest corners of the reserve. A Discover Scuba dive at the Piscina comes with real fish life as a backdrop. That combination — reliable calm conditions plus genuine reserve marine life — is the only thing that lifts this site above the category of a straightforward beginner option.

A paid Balearic reserve authorisation is required even for a Discover Scuba session inside the Malgrats zone. Operators include it in the session price; confirm when booking. This is the calm, easy Malgrats option. If you are looking for the wall, depth and barracuda schools, ask for Malgrats Punta instead. No night diving is permitted in the Malgrats special zone. The shallow depth (3-6m) means temperatures stay close to the surface — no thermocline concern here — but a shorty or 3mm wetsuit is comfortable in summer, and a 7mm advisable in winter.