More Detailed information and specific itineraries in our:
Basic and advanced diving guide in the Medas Islands, coming soon!
Diving in the Medas Islands: Carall Bernat
Carall Bernat is the highest of the three islets called Tascons, located south of the Medas Islands. It is a fantastic diving area with multiple possibilities.
The proposed itinerary goes and returns along the NE wall of Carall Bernat, where we will find spectacular walls with gorgonians and large stone blocks full of life.
Carall Bernat dive itinerary
We get up early and at 8:15h we leave our equipment in the vans of the Les Illes Hotel and Diving Center that will transport them to the port.
We finish getting ready and at 8:30h we walk along the promenade towards the marina of l’Estartit. The day dawns beautifully, and the sun, timidly, is rising over the horizon.
Sunrise from the port of l’Estartit, with the Medes Islands as protagonists.
After very good dives the day before: Dolphin Cave and Salpatxot dives, today it is time to go to the south of Medes Islands Marine Reserve, we will dive in the Carall Bernat.
At the port we take our Nitrox tank (since we do not plan to go deeper than 32 meters), we take the diving gear and go to the boat, and in arround 10 minutes we arrive at the dive site.
Carall Bernat islet
Our boat, getting ready to go to the water
We go down the buoy rope and before going in a NE direction, we go in a southerly direction (as if we were going towards the tascons bar) as sometimes there are large schools of barracudas in this area.
And yes! We find a huge school of barracudas, very calm and they let us get very close. At least there will be more than 50 individuals. There are also large groupers swimming quietly in the area.
Barracudas
Big school of barracudas
There are lots of small fish, so the barracudas are excited hunting and we are even more so watching them!
After this time admiring these stylized fish, we turn NE to go around the islet of Carall Bernat from South to North. In the seabed we see some very big dentex.
Dentex
We head northeast with the wall to our left, staying between -25 m and -30 m, and we see more groupers and barracudas.
We reach an area with large boulders. It is very entertaining, you can explore the holes and multiple cracks through them where we see moray eels and large scorpionfish perched on the ground.
Grouper resting in the bottom
Moray eel in a hollow among the rocks
The red scorpionfish, with their long spines and bright orange colors are very peculiar, and we see a lot of them in this area. They are usually very quiet perched on the seabed but always a little hidden among the rocky ledges.
Red scorpionfish in the seabed
Red scorpionfish
Along this route we pass through areas rich in gorgonians, making the walls very colorful wherever we go.
Gorgonian walls
Gorgonian walls
We arrive at the northernmost point of the dive, in this area there may be eagle rays, although this time we have not been lucky.
At this point we have two options; either we go all the way around the islet or we go back the way we came, along the same wall, but at a shallower depth.
We chose the second option, because if we turn around, between Carall Bernat and Tascó Gros there is only a depth of about 5 meters, without gorgonians, so we decided to go back the way we came, and continue exploring this beautiful area.
Grouper
Grouper
On the way back we see more groupers… oh how nice they are!!! more moray eels, dentex, groups of corvallos and some sea bream swimming very fast.
Meagres, exploring through the boulders
Almost under the boat, we pass through an area of large stone blocks with white gorgonians, where we can see many surmullets perched on the ground.
Exploring the rich seabed, white gorgonians
Surmullets
As we reach the end of the dive we see several very large schools of salemas, breams, and two-banded seabreams. What a spectacle!
Big school of two-banded seabreams
Very happy for this great dive, we went up the rope of the buoy and to the boat. We did not have much current, but there can be strong currents. If this is the case, it is better to stay close to the walls and the stone blocks for shelter.
A very interesting and entertaining dive with lots of life, really fascinating. It is worth visiting this place for its great biodiversity and rich seabed.
The Medas Islands marine reserve in l’Estartit is really an oasis of life in our Mediterranean Sea, which we must all take care of and preserve for all of us to enjoy not only ourselves, but also for future generations.
Other possibilities
Tascons Bars itinerary
Eagle ray at Tascons Bars
Inmersión profunda en la que visitaremos una serie de acantilados sumergidos que vale la pena observar desde arriba, a unos -35 metros. Accederemos a ella en dirección sur desde la boya de Carall Bernat o del Tascó Petit.
A destacar: Paredes muy bonitas de gorgonias y suelen verse grandes bancos de barracudas y águilas desde muy cerca.
Deep dive in which we will visit a series of submerged cliffs that are worth observing from above, at about -35 meters. We will access it in a southerly direction from the Carall Bernat or Tascó Petit buoy.
Highlights: Very nice walls of gorgonians and large schools of barracudas and eagle rays are usually seen from very close.
This dive requires experience in deep dives and good orientation. We explain how to find it in our Medas Islands Dive Guide, link below:
More Detailed information and specific itineraries in our:
Basic and advanced diving guide in the Medas Islands, coming soon!
Other dives in the Medas Islands
- El Dofí
- Salpatxot
- Carall Bernat
- Tascó Petit
- Pedra de Déu
- La Vaca
- Pota del Llop
- Tascó Gros
- Embarcador del Francès
- Les Ferranelles
You can also consult more information about diving in the marine reserve in our Guide to the best dives in the Medes Islands.
Our diving center in l’Estartit is Les Illes, for its service and personal attention, with more than 35 years of experience in the diving sector, making us enjoy our dives in the Medes Islands.
