Last Dive of the Season

I am a blue water diver and make no apologies for it.  I learned to dive in the Turks and Caicos Islands, one of the best places in the world to swim, where the visibility is great and if you don’t see a shark every dive, it is a bad dive. Diving in Spain is not quite the same but it can be fun in the summer.  It is getting a little cold now.  Thousands of fish, small and larger, magnificent scenery (a little gray perhaps) and spectacular boulders litter the seabed.

On arriving in Puerto de Mazarron four years ago, I did a trawl of all the dive businesses in the area.  The friendliest and best equipped, in my opinion, is Rivemar.  It would be hard not to feel welcome when Lucia, front office manager, smiles at you! They have three hard hulled boats, all equipped with lifts (!) as they specialize in helping those with physical disabilities.  They have loads of gear and even bought a nearly new minibus to take you to the jetty.  Their old one was old!

Underwater Scenery

The jetty where they embark is at La Azohia and the base is opposite La Bodega Restaurante on the seafront. What stands out at Rivemar (Tel: 968 159 963) is the staff.  The same faces appear each year, so you know who you are getting.  Sergi is the boss and likes to take the Michael about my thin wetsuit.  I saw him (and Andy) in dry suits, the other day – los cobardes (wimps).  The other divemasters are Tamara (lots of earrings); Juandi and Maldini (tall and thin with beards); Andy (no shoes and Irish!); Almudena (chica delgada) and Inma who just produced a new divemaster (Ena), about five weeks ago.  Keeping the place tidy is Amede.

I did only ten dives this year due to a wrecked knee and some blustery days. The sites are along from La Azohia towards Cabo Tiñoso.  Most popular are El Arco, Mina de Crystal, La Garita (short boat ride) and Punta Falcon.  There are a host of other sites and you can also go round to Cartagena Bay – Barranco de Pertrito was one of the coldest dives of my life -16°C. Rivemar does all the usual stuff such as tech dives, cave dives (not for me!), PADI training and their maintenance shop has helped me out on several occasions. They won’t see me until the spring but if you are interested in enjoying the underwater scenery with thousands of fish; moray eels; octopus and scorpion fish, I would recommend a visit, but not ‘til May 2010.