Diving in Tossa (first dive)

Date of Dive:
June 1, 2023

Location of Dive:
Tossa de Mar, Spain

Noticeable Sightings
Mediterranean Moray Eel (Muraena helena)
Common Octopus (Octopus vulgaris)

When booking my dives, I originally intended to do two dives in Barcelona. So when my dive guide recommended I'd dive in Tossa, I was apprehensive at first. Tossa is located relatively far away from Barcelona. Still, it seemed like a great experience and the dive guide spoke so highly of it, so I said yes. Boy, am I grateful I did! Upon arrival, it was immediately evident that Tossa is THE place to go diving: there were heaps of dive shops and big ones at that. One of the luxuries that I really enjoyed and didn't have at the dive centre in Barcelona were the hot showers.

After having gotten the gear set up and gotten myself squeezed into the wetsuit (5mm), we got in the van that took us to the beach. The beach itself seemed clean and calm, and with a view of the castle, it seems like a great place to spend the day even if you’re not a diver. We entered the water from the shore, close to some rock formations. These rocks created a beautiful looking landscape both above and underwater, and more importantly, they functioned as a perfect home for a variety of marine species. Because we had so swim over top of the rocks, it required better buoyancy skills than I had previously needed. Fortunately, it went better than it ever had, so I could focus my attention on my beautiful surroundings. There were a lot of gobies, wrasses, and breams in all shapes and colours. They were much more curious than the fish in the bay in Barcelona, so I was able to get a good look on most of them.

As I’m still a beginner I have yet to learn all the hand signals for the different animals. Obviously, as a cephalopod lover, I recognise the hand sign for octopus, but when the guide made biting gestures with his hand I had no idea what to expect. However, quickly I saw what he was trying to say: there was a morray eel! The eels were yellow snd blue/greyish and so nice to look at. Apperently, Tossa is a morray eel heaven and we saw so many of them. Esoecially seeing them swim was absolutely amazing!

Ahter having made our way around a relatively large rock formation, one of the other divers did the one animal hand signal I knew immediately: the octopus! It was very well hidden wedge in a crack in the rock, but it was good to see it nonetheless. I had already suspected there would be a few around as I had seen many cracked open clams and urchins, and a lot of places for it to hide. Couldn't be happier to have seen yet another octopus (after having seen one during my course in February).

After having done our decompression time, it was time to exit the water. It was such a great dive!