L Estartit, Catalonia, Spain

Dofi Sud

Dofi Sud is a deep wall on the southern face of the Medes Islands and a benchmark dive for experienced divers visiting the reserve. The wall starts at about 18 metres on a stepped shoulder, descends past 35 metres in a series of overhanging ledges and continues to a sand bottom at 50 metres. The dim wall hosts an exceptional coralligenous community with thick red coral colonies, red and yellow gorgonia fans, sponges and golden cup coral. Resident species include large dusky groupers, brown comber, scorpionfish, conger eels, lobsters, the rare Mediterranean slipper lobster and dense shoals of cardinalfish under the overhangs. Pelagic passes of barracuda, amberjack and bonito are common in summer. Because of the depth profile, the moderate current that often runs around the southern point and the dim ambient light at depth, the dive requires advanced certification and proper decompression planning. The Costa Brava and the Medes Islands reserve form one of the longest-protected marine areas of the Spanish Mediterranean, with full reserve status since 1990 and strict diver limits enforced by the Generalitat de Catalunya. Water temperature ranges from 13 C in February to 24 C in August, and a thermocline often divides upper warm and lower cool layers from June onward. Local dive centres operate from l Estartit and Roses with daily departures and quotas on the most popular sites of the reserve.