Mojacar, Andalusia, Spain

El Bajon de Mojacar

El Bajon de Mojacar is a low pinnacle just offshore of the resort village of Mojacar in the Levante Almeriense Marine Protected Area, declared in 2009 along the easternmost stretch of Andalusia's coast. The site is a rocky reef rising from a sand bottom at 25 metres to a summit at 14 metres, decorated with yellow encrusting anemone, sponges and small red and yellow gorgonia. After more than a decade of partial protection, the fish biomass is noticeable and the site is one of the more reliable Andalusian dives for grouper aggregations and brown meagre, with several large individuals patrolling the summit. Other regular encounters include schools of saddled seabream and salema, octopus, scorpionfish, conger eels in the cracks, and barracuda and amberjack on the surrounding blue. Visibility ranges from 12 to 22 metres depending on swell and currents are normally weak. The Andalusian Mediterranean coast covers the Alboran Sea, the boundary between Atlantic and Mediterranean waters, and benefits from the inflow of cooler Atlantic surface water that supports a mixed fauna unique in the basin. Water temperature ranges from 14 C in February to 25 C in August. Cabo de Gata-Nijar Natural Park and the Maro-Cerro Gordo natural area are the two principal MPAs, and dive operators run from Almeria, La Herradura and Roquetas de Mar.