Santa Eulalia, Balearic Islands, Spain

Tagomago

Tagomago is a small uninhabited islet off the eastern coast of Ibiza near Santa Eulalia, privately owned and surrounded by some of the most consistent dive sites of the island. The channel between Tagomago and Ibiza accelerates current and concentrates pelagic life around the islet's vertical walls, which descend from 8 metres on the inshore reef to 40 metres on the outer face. The walls are decorated with red gorgonian Paramuricea clavata at depth, yellow encrusting anemone, red coral colonies under overhangs and pockets of small caves and swim-throughs. Marine life is a Mediterranean classic with large dusky groupers, schools of barracuda from late summer, amberjack patrolling the corner of the islet, dense shoals of saddled seabream and white seabream, octopus, scorpionfish and the occasional dentex. Currents vary from weak on the sheltered side to moderate on the channel face. The Balearic archipelago sits in the western Mediterranean and is the only Spanish region to combine four distinct marine reserves with the largest single Posidonia oceanica meadow in the world, the UNESCO-listed prairie between Ibiza and Formentera. Water temperature ranges from 13 C in February to 26 C in August, and the islands are served by year-round dive centres in Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera.