L’Estartit, Spain

L’Estartit sits on Spain’s Costa Brava, a short flight from the UK and right on the doorstep of the Medes Islands, one of the best-protected marine reserves in the Mediterranean. Hotel Les Illes has its own dive centre on site, about ten minutes by boat from the islands, so logistics for a school group are straightforward. The trip runs 7 days, full board, with boat diving suited to complete beginners and experienced divers alike.

Scuba Diving

The Medes Islands were declared protected in 1983 and became Spain’s first National Marine Park in 1990. Fishing and anchoring are banned across the seven islets and the sea around them, and the effect shows: divers regularly see dusky grouper, moray eels, shoals of barracuda, and dense beds of Posidonia seagrass, a habitat that’s become rare elsewhere in the Mediterranean. Dive sites range from shallow, sheltered spots suited to less experienced divers through to wall and wreck dives past 20 metres, including the Reggio Messina, the largest wreck on the Costa Brava. Visibility is best from June to September.

Culture

L’Estartit is a working fishing port turned dive town, with a kilometre of sandy beach, a harbour lined with restaurants, and the old town’s Santa Anna square a short walk back from the water. The Montgri massif rises straight up behind the town, with a 13th-century castle at the top and marked trails through the natural park for a day out of the water.

Students dive from the PADI centre attached to the hotel, so training and qualification dives happen without leaving the site. Direct flights from the UK to Girona or Barcelona keep the travel side simple too.