Playa de Illetas

West Coast Divers runs this dive from its base in the Hotel Bonanza Playa & Spa, and the house reef starts at the hotel dock on the Illetas shore. Divers go in with a big step off the dock, or by the staircase, and the bottom slopes away quickly. A swarm of fish, most likely salema, accompanies the group from the entry; West Coast Divers says it has grown used to being fed by hotel guests and bathers.

The route leaves the bay heading west. A small wreck, a sunken sports boat, lies on the way, with a large anchor said to belong to one of the Palma wrecks. Beyond it is an artificial reef of large concrete blocks and natural rock, then boulders that alternate with seagrass beds as the slope drops away. The dive averages about 12 m and the slope reaches 21 m at its deepest; an Open Water diver turns at 18 m, the limit of that certification. Barracuda are not uncommon here, feeding on sardines that cormorants also take, and octopus turn up here and there. In recent years a seahorse has been found now and then in the seagrass.

One dive here crosses two kinds of bottom. Concrete blocks, a sunken boat and an anchor lie among natural boulders and seagrass, so built structure and natural reef share the same route. The water also starts at a hotel dock, with no boat to catch, and West Coast Divers recommends the reef in every season.

The step off the dock is a big one with a full kit on, so use the staircase if you would rather go down than step off. Do not feed the fish that meet you at the entry; it only deepens the habit.