Diving in Ibiza - October 2003 - Page 4
Ibiza 2003 page 1:- Introduction
Ibiza 2003 page 2:- Llado Norte, Illa Llarge Norte
Ibiza 2003 page 3:- Formentera (Espardell, Punta Prima)
Ibiza 2003 page 4:- Seca Sta Eularia Chimenea, Pecia Cala Mastella, Dive 7:- Roca Llisa
Ibiza 2003 page 5:- Llado Norte, Llado Sur, Sta. Eularia Rocks, Espardell, Punta Prima, Summary
Dive 5:- Seca Sta Eularia Chimenea
- Max Depth:- 29.3m
- Average Depth:- 19.2m
- Duration:- 32 minutes
- Visibility:- 15m
- Water Temp:- 24c
- Water speed:- Strong current
- Weather:- Air temp 24c, clear skies, strong wind
This dive was hard work.
The dive site is a combination of rocky ledges leading down to a flat bottom at
around 30m. We entered the water and immediately descended to the bottom at 28m
where we made ourselves as negative as possible before clawing our way against
the current towards a rocky ledge. On that ledge and around the sea bed were 2
"Chimneys" and a large piece of chain - I assume off a since disappeared wreck.
The guide then tried to have us work gently up the ledges while examining the
holes although working against the current this was exhausting and everyone was
sucking up air quickly. We ascended to a ledge at 17m (with a slow warning off
the vyper on the way) where the dive guide 3 times attempted to deploy a DSMB.
Having no reel or spool he just let the rope flap in the current and a small
weight on one end made the system resemble a birds nest. He inflated the
open-ended DSMB and it went up.......
..........
10 seconds later it came back down to join us.
He tried a further twice to deploy the buoy with no success before shrugging
his shoulders and stuffing it back in his pocket along with the wire. I wasn't
carrying my DSMB/Reel with me on that dive but decided from now on I would.
After failing to deploy the marker buoy we continued this time with the rapid
current and by more luck than judgement spotted the anchor line. The boat had
lowered several weighted ropes to a depth of 5m and the guide indicated everyone
should grab onto one and hold it. This produced more slow warnings from the
computer although nothing serious. Holding onto the rope made me feel like a
flag in a gale before it was my time to get back onboard the boat.
Despite all the above the dive had some good wildlife including lobster to
look at so was still enjoyable. It was very hard work fighting or even moving
with that current in the way the guide was doing. My own view is that in
conditions like that it would have been a very enjoyable drift dive.
Dive 6:- Pecia Cala Mastella
- Max Depth:- 21.3m
- Average Depth:- 14.3m
- Duration:- 53 minutes
- Visibility:- 15m
- Water Temp:- 24c
- Water speed:- slack
- Weather:- Air temp 27c, Windy, partly cloudy
This
was a nice wreck dive of a small boat, possibly a fishing trawler that lies on a
sandy bottom against a series of rock ledges leading to the cliffs on the shore.
We dropped in close to the cliffs into 7m of water and could see bits of
metal and broken pipes among the rocks. Working our way south down the slope and
series of ledges more and more wreckage became visible before running into more
intact pieces at 22m including the boilers and bow.
Although this is a small wreck there are some areas you can swim inside to
have a look with the aid of a torch and there's no chance of getting stuck.
There 
are
a fair number of swim throughs and plenty of life around the outside of the
wreck.
The surrounding rocky reef had a lot of boulders and outcrops providing small
caves and holes to explore, a large number of them home to Morays.
This was a nice "rummage and prod" dive over a fairly large area. The sandy
bottom meant that some silt could be kicked up temporarily reducing visibility
and this was more noticeable in the shallows. However, this reduced it to maybe
5m for a few seconds - nowhere near enough to be a hazard but just enough to
make photography difficult.
One other thing of note during the dive was the noise of engines overhead. I
rolled and looked up to see what looked like a boat but wasn't quite right.
After a while I realised I was looking up at a glass bottom boat which had gone
over the wreck to show its passengers. Its the first time in my life i've looked
through the wrong end of a glass bottom boat and felt a bit like a fish in an
aquarium with an audience. The boat vanished 2 minutes later and after a short
safety stop we surfaced.
A nice easy enjoyable dive which required no effort, unlike the mornings high
current, high energy affair.
Dive 7:- Roca Llisa
- Max Depth:- 27.1m
- Average Depth:- 16.8m
- Duration:- 46mins
- Visibility:- 30m+
- Water Temp:- 24c
- Water speed:- slack
- Weather:- Air Temp 26c, clear, calm
Its hard to put a visibility figure for this dive as the view went on and on until the light ran out - well in excess of 30m. The boat today was full of French divers who appeared to have more camera equipment than a film production company and as a result it took longer than normal for people to enter the water.
The
dive began by dropping into the water onto an 8m ledge before descending down a
wall to the bottom at 22m. After swimming through one arch and ascending
slightly to 18m we came across 2 more large impressive arches positioned one on
top of the other. Swimming through these arches led to a fairly wide crevice
maybe 5m wide and 10m long where the walls were covered in coloured growth and
fish life. The bottom here was a very coarse sand and as a result didn't get
kicked up at all leading to excellent visibility.
Turning right after exiting the canyon and beginning to work shallower the bottom turned more and more rocky and more and more overhangs to explore. Inside the one small cave was a hole no more than 1m in diameter that led all the way to the surface some 15m above.
After
working back to the ledge at about 8m where the boat was anchored a jellyfish
was seen - apparently a "fried egg jellyfish" and was the only one I saw all
trip.
At this 8m ledge looking towards shore was an impressive sight - the white villas on the cliff top were perfectly clear through the water as was the sun bouncing off them.
At this 8m ledge looking towards shore was an impressive sight - the white villas on the cliff top were perfectly clear through the water as was the sun bouncing off them.
This was a nice dive and worth it for the arches and view of the villas from underwater alone.