Currently we are based in Spain, near Torrevieja in Alicante. The area is treated year-round with warm weather and mostly calm conditions. There is a rich biodiversity in the flora and fauna, and many wrecks. However we are faced with some challenges, namely the shallow grade in the bathymetry, strictly controlled areas, and massive changes in temperature and thermocline.
How we find sites
Given our background in geospatial data science, we use GIS software and Bathymetry data from EMODNet to inspect the coastal terrain around us. The tile representing South-East Spain is F4. We clip the values from -10 to the depth we need, in this case -30 and pan around looking for appropriate areas.
At Lungs we teach up to Wave 2, the requirement for this is a maximum of 30 metres. This is why we chose this value. For a lot of training and fun diving we find that this kind of depth is sufficient.
As we can see in the image on the right. A lot of the East coast is very flat and can be many kilometres until we reach 30m. However the South coast we can see patches of depth coming up to the coast. Some of our favourite sites are down there, including Playa del Lastre, Cartagena, and La Azohia.
At Playa del Lastre we can reach 25m of depth within 10 minutes of swimming.
We may also use other data from EMODNet to determine interesting sites like where we may find specific marine habitats, wrecks, and underwater geology.
At the time of writing, we are treated by killer whales making their way north along the coast!
Shore and boat diving
While we have some limited shore diving sites, a lot of the interesting features and meaningful depth will only be accessible by boat.
For boat diving you need to have a licence and enough funds to rent a boat, or to pay a skipper to take you out. The alternative is a generous friend with access to a boat! This gives access to witness the unique marine landscape of the Spanish mediterranean.
For teaching courses we prefer shore diving for many reasons, including flexibility if we’re not feeling great, ease of setup, and fewer dependencies.