This trip to Menorca had been helped by an easy departure from Bristol, my local airport. Then the drive from Mahon at the east end of Menorca to Cala'n Bosc at the south west tip took a relaxed hour through some varied and surprisingly green countryside. There were even black and white Friesian cows grazing in the pastures. I am soon glad to be underwater. Pont d'en Gil is actually the name of a headland with an arch though it, though the object of the dive and often referred to as Pont d'en Gil is a spectacular cave cut back into the limestone cliffs.
After a cavernous entrance that reaches from the surface down to 12 metres the cave gently shallows and narrows as we work further inside. The first part is a fairly typical sea water cave, nothing really to separate it from other big holes cut back into limestone cliffs. Then the character of the cave starts to change.
Whilst many of the shallow caves round Menorca have been cut by the sea, the cave at Pont d'en Gil was cut by an ancient subterranean stream way, then flooded by a change in sea level. The consequence is cave formations. Stalactites and stalagmites formed by fresh water dripping from the surface of the limestone, in effect thousands of years of accumulated lime scale.
Near the entrance they have been eroded, but further back they are more and more complete. Waxy ripples in the walls as we swim deeper into the cave. Sand banked up towards the back of the cave means that only a few large formations stand from the floor, pillars to circle as we finally cut under the only part with "no clear surface" before popping out at a sandy beach more than 200 metres into the cliff.
The journey back out is something very different. After dipping under the water to get away from the beach the rest of the swim is on the surface. Stalagmites rise from shelves in the side of the cave and stalactites drop to just clear of my head.
Shadows hint at dry passages continuing above the water. Though these have been thoroughly explored and only go a few metres back, the retired caver in me wonders whether there is still more undiscovered passage to be found. Perhaps buried under the beach at the back of the cave.
Near the entrance it is regulators back in and the dive continues, exiting the cave through a slit in the wall. It is by no means a difficult dive, but I can see the benefit in taking an unknown diver through some shorter caves first. You wouldn't want a sudden attack of claustrophobia at the back of Pont d'en Gil.
The dive at Grand Canyons begins with a drop through a limestone shelf at 5 metres and out through a cave at 15 metres. A little way along the reef and the canyons begin, just wide enough to swim along, a few metres deep and narrowing above sometimes to the point of becoming tunnels. The maze extends in and out from the cliffs across a shelf at 5 to 10 metres, formed by an old river bed now submerged by the Mediterranean. I know countless other divers have been here before me, but it still makes me feel like a real underwater explorer rather than just a guided tourist.
I get a similar thrill of exploration at Cap Negra. A shallow dive right in beneath the cliffs where narrow letterbox openings widen out into bowls that break the surface in an air bells at the back of the caves.
In general the cliffs go down to the water and a little bit further. Sometimes to just below the surface and a shelf at 5 or 10 metres, sometimes to and a rocky slope, and sometimes just straight down to 25 metres where the sand begins. Everywhere the shallows are riddled with caves. The whole coastline is like an enormous Swiss cheese. In fact one of the dive sites at the other end of the island is actually called Swiss cheese there are so many holes.
Off the south coast is the wreck of the Malakoff, a French steamship which hit the cliffs in a snowstorm on 2 January 1929. An unusual event when considered in the context of the Mediterranean.
I can make out a dark shadow on the white sandy seabed as soon as I begin my descent. On the wreck at 38 metres it is immediately apparent what Martin meant about the marine life. I can hardly get a clear view of the wreck for the hordes of damsel fish and antheas swarming over it. Ignoring the occasional moray eel poking its head out of a crack I strike out for the stern.
The cargo of solidified cement provides bulk and strength to the remainder of the wreck. The cement reef is highest near the bow and slowly slopes back to amidships. Steel uprights, all that remains of bulkheads between holds, stand proud of the debris. It is more a 9 metre high reef of cement with bits of hull and other metal sticking out.
A trio of grey trigger fish tempts me from my circuit of the wreck, but they don't want to co-operate and I resume my swim towards the stern. All the engine room machinery is gone. There are no boilers, no engine, and no remains of auxiliary machinery or steam pipes. Just a big gap in the middle of the wreck where some long forgotten salvage company has removed the whole lot.
The entrance to the propeller shaft tunnel pokes out of the renewed mound of cement rubble falling from the aft holds. A flange on the end of the shaft shows where the thrust bearing has been removed. The tunnel is blocked by small lumps of cement. Moray eels wave their heads from side to side before retreating.
Continuing to the stern on the port side I run into the barracuda. When it comes to barracuda, I am just a diver who can't say no. The shoal draws me forwards again, back past the engine room and the forward holds. They keep me so busy I just don't have time to get to the stern before I have to return to the anchor line. Warm water above the thermocline is luxurious to decompress in.
The barge is an old crane barge purposely sunk in 40 metres straight out from Citaduella. There are plenty of fish on it, but there is not much structure other than the box hull. The crane and other machinery were all removed before it was sunk.
It is the sort of wreck worth seeing once, but for a repeated dive the Malakoff is a much better choice. As a deep water wreck of limited size it is an ideal deep dive training platform. Deep enough to score the depth, yet small enough that there is no temptation to stay too long.
Averaging 10 metres deeper than the Malakoff or the barge is the wreck of the Fracisquita, a 500 ton coaster that sprang a leak and sank just a few miles from port on 17 December 1952.
The seabed is at 49 metres and the wreck stands 10 metres clear. For this dive I borrow a twin set and a side mount of deco mix.
With a slight surface current the line is at 45 degrees. Rather than spotting the wreck below me I see it appear from the blue background as I swim along the line towards it. Layout is a typical small coaster. Bow, two forward holds, then an aft superstructure with engine room below.
I have a look round the bows while Martin sorts out the shot, then we head for the stern. The propeller has been salvaged and one or two trinkets, but otherwise the wreck is beautifully complete.
We cut through open remains of stern cabins, the galley and engine room, working up to the wheelhouse where a large grouper lurks behind the remains of the steering binnacle. The grouper is skittish and disappears out the back.
Above the wheelhouse a big shoal of barracuda has appeared while we are below. They form a towering spiral round my bubbles while I listen to my camera click and beep for out of film. Frustrating, but also a blessing. If I had seen them earlier I could easily have been distracted from seeing other parts of the wreck.
Having explored the wrecks the cave at Pont d'en Gil is on the schedule again. I am tormented by decision. It's a spectacular dive, but I already have one film inside the cave and have plenty of other caves from this trip. I elect to stay outside and swim round the point, making a circuit back to the boat through an archway in the cliff.
I start with a few nudibranchs, then a jellyfish with tiny fish hiding inside, then spot a pile of shells moving as an octopus pulls them over it's den. An empty barnacle is home to a small blenny. Then a few more nudibranchs of different species. And all the while I haven't been deeper than 5 metres, though I can see other divers at the bottom of the wall 20 metres below.
Two thirds of the way round I have used a full film and I find the best nudibranch yet. 10 centimetres long and bright yellow with black and white fringes. As a general rule, if I have a short dive it is either very bad, or so good I have finished the film already. I speed up and rush back to the boat, swap films and re-start from the big yellow nudibranch.
But in spite of the wrecks, fish and macro life, the really memorable thing about diving in Menorca is the shallow caves and canyons. Easy diving that a beginner can enjoy, yet still an adventure for more experienced divers.