Puig de la sardina

Les Illes fix the mooring buoy at 21 m and work the site between 21 and 38 m; Xaloc quotes 12 to 40 m. The route starts at the bottom and climbs the mountain in a slow circle, taking in the peaks at 27, 22 and 14 m on the way up. Operators on this coast say a dive to 30 or 35 m is enough to see the whole site, which keeps both deeper peaks and their walls inside the profile. The east-side walls carry the richest cover: red and yellow gorgonians, clouds of castanets and anthias, shoals of bream, large scorpionfish and, with luck, a moray. Deeper down there are crawfish and shellfish in the rock. Away from the structure, look out into the open water, where eagle rays or barracuda sometimes pass.

Three rocky peaks rise off the Montgrí shore, their walls wrapped in red and yellow gorgonians, with open water around them that holds large banks of amberjack and horse mackerel. One local operator ranks the wall among the best gorgonian walls of the Costa Brava. The park authority lists it as an official dive itinerary and publishes an eco-briefing sheet for it.

One operator asks divers to keep one to two metres off the gorgonians and recommends a dive torch, which brings out their colour. Set the maximum depth at the briefing, since the wall keeps falling below the working ranges quoted. Les Illes recommends Nitrox 32% for the profile.