|
|
|
Cumbre del
Sol, Costa Blanca (by
Peter Esser) The wonder-beautiful coastline of Spain’s Costa Blanca is approximately 310 miles long, from Denia to cape Gata. She includes the provinces Alicante, Murcia, and bits of Valencia and Almería. Between Denia and Altea white sand beaches hide under rough cliffs or continue elegantly in full sand bays. At Benidorm the coastline flattens. For a long time diving here was a Spanish secret but since commercial dive centers have settled more and more foreign divers discovered the unspoiled underwater locations. You will however not experience any mass diving, which is common along some other Spanish coast regions. This is an ideal destination for divers looking for a great family vacation with diving as the primary activity, or for those looking to make just a few dives as part of a holiday. Dive sites such as La Llosa, Cabo de la Nao and Cumbre del Sol offer dive opportunities for everyone from the most experienced diver right up to the enthusiastic beginner. Underwater visibility varies with the weather conditions, usually averaging 26 to 98 feet but sometimes exceeding 130 feet. Water temperatures are quite comfortable ranging from 56° to 80° Fahrenheit.
Cumbre del Sol : There is already a minibus parked when we stop for the entrance of the cave, which provides access to a unique dive location here near to the scenic village of benitachell. “Germans” says Antonio, I take a good look, "yes the same ones as yesterday, right", I reply. He knods his head. They are preparing themselves for a cave dive in the Moraig cave system, I can see rebreathers stage-bottles, various lights and back ups to back ups.
The entrance to Moraig cave system
It’s in the middle of august and approximately 91° Fahrenheit. As I walk to the cave with my fellow divers for the briefing I suddenly starting to feel sorry when I notice that the Germans are just about to change into their boiling drysuits. There are five of us and for three divers this is a new location. When we enter the cave I can see some of them thinking; will we dive here and where is the sea? The briefing gives explanation to all of the uncertainties, so we walk back to the car to get our equipment. Our technical friends are still busy with their gear, so it seems that we are going in first. Both recreational and technical divers use the entrance in the cave, but once in the open water they go separate ways. We are going to the Cueva de los arcos and they are heading for the Moraig cave system.
The entrance to the cave With all the equipment on our shoulders, we enter the cave once again, we climb from rock to rock ending at a cavity filled with seawater and approximately 10 by 13 feet wide. The water is ink black and motionless. I go in first and let myself decent to the bottom of the opening at a depth of 16 feet, I switch on my light and the whole cavity illuminates, it is now clear to see that the bottom part is more spacious than at the surface. All of my fellow divers decent to the bottom to join me. At our left side we can vaguely see daylight coming from the end of a 65 feet long horizontal tunnel, which links the cave with the sea. My friends have listened well to the briefing because in pairs they carefully swim through the low but broad tunnel in the direction of the open water. Once in the open water it becomes a typical Mediterranean dive, with the usual marine life like octopuses, moray eels, and groupers. We arrive at the entrance of another cave, the depth gauge indicates 22 feet and the maximum dived depth was 36 feet. This cave possesses a sinister opening but despite of that we swim towards a light, what seems a bit strange. Soon comes the answer, we ascent and surface in a huge open-air and sun lit grotto. Here you can experience the so-called "halocline" effect. At some places in the cave freshwater pours from the rocks and tries to blend with the salty seawater but this will not happen as a result of the differences in density. In the border layer, which forms itself, then arises an intriguing outcome, a bizarre distorted visual experience, its like if you would be looking through a chunk of ice. Pay attention how fish react once they are in the border layer they go nuts until they return into the salty seawater. After this miraculous event were heading back to where we came from with the pleasant anticipation that we have to dive the first cave again but now in a reverse course. By its characterizations this cavity / cave falls under the type "Cavern" and is in contrast to the nearby Moraig cave system open to every diver, but be sure to find a skilful guide. Peter Esser has an excellent site on the Spanish Costa Blanca, see our diving links page.
|
||
|
|
|
|
The
Moraig cave system is an underground river that ends up in the sea. Since
1974, intensive exploration takes place with the objective to find the
origin of this freshwater spring. A discovery of the source could end
the permanent shortage of tap and irrigation water in this region. This
daring project is so ambitious that even the local government contributed
with funding. In spite of the fatal diving accidents of 1982, (2 divers),
1989, (1 diver) and in 1992 Bernhard Pack the founder of the "Moraig:
Expedition Speleo-Hydrological project, German cave divers continue the
search for the freshwater spring. A sample taken from the cave some 3900ft.
deep inside still contains tracks of salt. Along with the Germans, the
majority of cave divers here are mapping the system, the deepest penetration
up to now (2000) ends at 5000ft. 