Where in Spain?

[Lamnid]

I want to go for my PADI ADvanced Open Water cert. and thought to go to Spain where the waters are a little warmer than chilly England. I have consulted Lonely Planet and the interweb thingy, but I can't really seem to find much accurate information. Can anyone tell me where the best place to dive would be? My ESSENTIAL criteria are: pretty easy to access to water, no strong current (I'm still young and scared!) and pretty good vos. would be a bonus. I also need it to be a place which I can fly to for not too much money. Everyone says Canary Islands but it does not seem as if Ryanair go there! What do you guys think of the Costa Brava or around Cabo de Gato region because these looked like the most promising to me. Thanks a lot. Caz.

 

[El Orans]

Here are a few suggestions for Mallorca:

www.maddivers.co.uk

www.scubamallorca.com

Ninja edit: removed bad link.

 

[milkathecow]

el orans... planetScuba have shut down but still have a website online, they are no longer a 5* padi dive Center (even if still listed as such) but the owner is still working as a freelance instructor through other dive centers.

We are on the island for mallorca : direct access to the sea 2 meters in front of the DC, confined waters just in front, open water dives a little further (like 2mn swim ).

www.hippocampes.com for more information.

 

[Lamnid]

well what about mainland spain i hear a lot about diving on the islands but the cheap air companies such as ryanair do not seem to go there. How about round barcelona or almeria? Can anyone share their experiences?

 

[milkathecow]

I don't know about almeira etc, but check on the padi website, there's the "find a dive Center" feature which can help you get a few places.

Btw : easyjet goes to mallorca i think virgin might, air berlin, condor, air europa, iberia has decent prices too actually for this destination via barcelona or madrid, etc.

 

[Redshift]

Near Barcelona you have L'Estartit and the Medes Islands which are a marine reserve.
Very good diving there.
Some info:

http://mediambient.gencat.net/eng//el_medi/parcs_de_catalunya/medes/inici.jsp

Some PADI diving centers that I found on the web:

http://www.rei-del-mar.com/ --- I dove with them. Very nice people and conditions.
http://www.aquatica-sub.com/amenu.htm
http://www.grn.es/calypso/english.html

 

[duncan1958]

hi.
i have recently just finished doing a 10 month internship with simplydiving on the costa del sol there are a 5 star idc centre.check out the web site and tell david i sent you.they dive mostly in a marine reserve that mainly has good viz and loads of fish etc.it is used for training due to the location.
also once a week going to tarifa which is also good.

 

[Lamnid]

cool. I think I'm gonna go to almeria you guys! The cost of the islands seems to be much larger and...let's face it...Tenerife or Malaga!!?!?? If i wanna hang out with a bunch of sweaty, drunken english guys and get leered at then i'll stay in england. lol. just kidding, I'm sure tenerife has lots of culture. But i found a nice club in Mojacar Playa near Almeria. Gave em a call today: "Quiero hacer PADI Advanced Open Water" lol.

 

[El Orans]

Don't forget to post how their course was.

 

[Lamnid]

yeah of course! i just booked the flight, so i'll be going at start of june for 5 days. really excited.