Port de la Selva

Two boat dives, a surface interval at the dock or on one of the 39 park buoys (three-hour cap per buoy), and a site choice driven by the morning's wind read.

The underlying script is recognisable across the sector. Descend onto a Paleozoic wall or pinnacle, follow pegmatite dikes that protrude from softer schist, work through canyon channels and swim-throughs cut by differential erosion. On the Woodside the routine is to drop to the deck at 25m, work the rail under its red-gorgonian coat, look in through structural gaps for anthias and nudibranchs on the encrusted plates, then ascend the buoy line. El Molar is gentler: sand and rock from 12 down to 25m+, white and red gorgonian fingers, anthias schools, no current to fight, and monkfish on the sand in winter.

Above the wall the summer drama belongs to the schools - one logged August dive recorded anchovies pursued by tunas across the column. Below 15m the thermocline does the rest: surface water sits near 23C in August and bottom water reads 14C at 25-30m, so the briefing leans hard on exposure suit and hood for the bottom phase.

Three access points share the same natural park, each defining itself against the others. Cadaques runs the headline pinnacles. Roses runs the southern coast. Port de la Selva runs the northern sector - the stretch from Els Farallons through Cala Culip and around the Woodside to Cap Gros - and that stretch is the least-dived part of the park. The trade is honest: same Paleozoic geology, same protection regime, quieter buoy lines, paid for in more weather-dependent days.

The harbour supports three operators with no exclusive access. Cap de Creus Dive and CIPS run as PADI 5-Star centres with multilingual staff and full tech progression. The CNPS Nautical Club section is the working-club end - around 30 euros for a member dive, baptisms from age 8, and an annual seabed cleanup. All three share the same coastline, so the atmosphere is less about brand and more about place: short boat hops, lighter buoy traffic, and centres that lead with geology over fish count.

The defining wreck is the SS Woodside, an English steamer running Sete to London in 1884 when fog closed in and put her on the bottom. She sits at around 25m, gorgonian-draped, with deck and rail open enough to fin alongside and look in through structural gaps. It is the single named wreck every source agrees belongs to this sector.

Cap de Creus was declared Catalonia's first maritime-terrestrial natural park in 1998 under Ley 4/1998. In July 2025 the new PRUG fixed the rules in force today: caps on Group A and Group B operator companies, the 39-buoy network, the 80cm fin-length limit, mandatory Geoblau boat tracking, and the ecobriefing on every trip. The cap is not yet binding - roughly 10-12 active centres park-wide against a ceiling of 23.

The northern coast pays photographers in two currencies. Wide angle handles the geology - dark metamorphic walls veined with lighter pegmatite, the swim-through canyons, and the Woodside hull from the deck angle with red gorgonian rosettes filling the foreground. Macro pays out on the wreck plates and at El Molar: nudibranchs across the encrusted metal, anthias against the gorgonian fans, scorpionfish tucked into the schist. The 14C bottom in August is harder on housings than on subjects; condensation discipline matters on summer trips. The CNPS Nautical Club runs an annual underwater photo and video championship under FECDAS scoring.

Tramontana from the north is the deciding voice. It can shut the outer coast for days, and operators redirect to lee-side options or stand the day down rather than fight it. Treat a multi-day trip as a window, not a fixed schedule.

The 2025 PRUG framework applies to every dive. Bring a certification card, a logbook, and medical clearance under two years old; the mandatory ecobriefing covers conservation and the day's zone rules. S'Encalladora north face is closed entirely. Maximum fin length is 80cm. Do not touch gorgonians, archaeological remains, or fishing gear; collection and spearfishing are prohibited.

Plan exposure suit by depth, not surface temperature. A 5mm handles July-August above the thermocline; the wreck and 25m+ walls want a 7mm with a hood. Both PADI centres carry nitrox, with Trimix, Rebreather, and Sidemount progression on offer.