Wreck Dives in l’Ametlla de Mar

Good morning AmetllaDiving family!

We return with a topic that you always ask us, the sunken ship cemetery of l'Ametlla de Mar!

L'Ametlla de Mar is a fishing village. Many types of fishing are carried out, such as longline, trawling and purse-seine fishing (from anchovies and sardines to tuna). Trawlers have an average length of about 16 m. These boats and some old tuna vessels sink a mile from the mouth of the port, in part thanks to the aid of the European Community for the reconversion of the fishing fleet, taking out navigation equipment and pollutants but taking advantage of the wooden hull of the boat to create an artificial reef.

That is why in our town we have sunken ship dives. Although, the boats are not whole, but rather the skeleton, since most were built of wood, and the sea has damaged it along with the great storms that occur on the coast.

We will start talking about the sunken ship dive "Pepito Lalula":

It was from the godfather of a member of our Staff! Pepito Lalula was a wooden trawler, 26.46 meters long (very long). She was registered in the RGFP on May 10, 1989 in the base port of l'Ametlla de Mar, Tarragona. She was permanently removed from the RGFP on December 22, 2008, the approximate date on which the vessel sank.

The dive is very easy and beautiful, it is -30m deep, so it corresponds to Advanced level divers (PADI Advanced Open Water). Upon arrival, we found a huge ship that could be penetrated, although, due to the past and catastrophic storm Gloria, many of the ships have been affected, and this one in particular, the roof collapsed ... But the dive continues being beautiful, since the fauna and flora are still there and we can find a huge conger eel (when we say huge, it's huge! It is advisable to bring a flashlight to be able to observe the Loch Ness monster of l'Ametlla de Mar), another, either Chiquitito, in the horn, lobsters, schools of barracudas, anchovies, banks of bream, black croaker, basket stars Gorgonocephalus eucnemis, nudibranchs ...
One of the drawbacks is that, in l'Ametlla de Mar we have the mouth of the Ebro river next to it, and the currents and winds bring the sediments here, making the soil muddy. If there is a little storm or lift, the mud immediately rises and causes poor visibility. It can also be triggered by divers with fin movements, which move the mud and the dive becomes a sandstorm.

If you want beautiful experiences, try this dive, you will love it!

We continue with the "la Azur" dive:

The Azur was owned by Marcos Curto, and it was a 19.23-meter-long trawler (also loooong). She was discharged from the RGFP on May 10, 1989. On November 14, 2008 she was discharged and sank to -30m deep.
She is one of the new dives of this 2020. The boat is in very good condition, and we imagine that before the Gloria, the boat was whole! It is inhabited by a multitude of spectacular animals and plants, among them we have a lobster friend who is incredible, beautiful and big!

Let's talk about the "Catalina y Juan" dive:

The Catalina y Juan was a trawler owned by Joan Pere "Mementos" (ask). It was built of wood and had a length of 14.76m. She was discharged from the RGFP on May 10, 1989. On December 5, 2012 she was discharged and sank to -24m deep.
It is a very beautiful dive, despite the fact that the boat is very deteriorated, because, close by, there is another boat that we will talk about, the Tapatia. We start with this last boat, we explore the area where we find lobsters, seabream schools, black croaker ... and we find the Catalina and Juan.

Another of the dives that you must try with us!

Now we will talk about the Tapatia dive:

The Tapatia was a trawler discharged in the fishing port of Ampolla on May 10, 1989, and discharged on April 19, 2014. She was made of wood and a half 21 m in length (a long boat). The Tapatia dive is - 24m deep, so it is also suitable from the Advanced level (Advanced Open Water PADI). It is another very easy and beautiful dive, where you can find the typical Mediterranean fauna such as crustaceans, lobsters, lobsters, schools of bream, black croaker ...

We continue with the El Rogelia and Alfredo dive:

The trawler Rogelia and Alfredo belonged to Josep Maria Llaó Llaó "lo Viri" and she was discharged on May 10, 1989. On January 22, 2010, she was discharged. She was made of wood and her average length was 19.78 m, a good boat! In this wreck we can see a small community of Black Corvinas, there have also been stingrays, dorados, schools of barracudas, dentex ...

In addition to the wreck, at about 30 fins we find a rock formation where we can entertain ourselves looking for life among its cavities, as a complement to the immersion of the wreck itself.

Come see it, you will love it!

We went to see the La Vitera dive:

This boat was dedicated to fishing for bluefin tuna. The tuna vessel, called La Vitera, was registered on the same date as all the other vessels, May 10, 1989, and was registered in the RGFP on October 1, 2002. It was made of wood but more resistant than that of the rest of the wrecks, since its wood came from Guinea. She was also a long boat, with an overall length of 23.32m. Its frames rise from the muddy sand bottom about 4 meters and in it we can see conger eels, lobsters, black croaker, sea bream, castanets and if we look closely at some kind of nudibranchs.

An incredible dive, and to repeat!

Now it's time to talk about the El Moro dive:

El Moro was a trawler owned by Pepito Llambrich. El Moro was the nickname of the ship's skipper, hence its name, although the original is Los Mocos. She was discharged on May 10, 1989 and discharged on October 25, 2006. She was made of wood, and the length of her had a length of 21.84m. El Moro are the remains of a boat that are 29 m. deep, so it is required to be an Advanced diver at least. In the immersion there are also rocks with non-accessible cavities where to go looking for life. We can find lobsters, lobsters, conger eels, castanets, black croakers, nudibranchs, sometimes schools of barracudas ...

Another dive to add to your list.

Finally, we will finish talking about the Andrea dive:

The trawler Andrea was owned by Bernat Margalef Estrada. This trawler, made of wood, had a total length of 14.25m. He was registered in the RGFP on the same date and discharged on February 26, 2004. Due to the storms and the material with which the boat was made, it is in poor condition, and we can only see its hull , but the immersion is still interesting and beautiful, because both in the south and in the north we find many rock bars where to go looking for life, such as brothel, amberjack, black croaker, scorpion, scorpionfish, banks of bream, barracuda occasionally, lobsters, and some grouper.

A new discovery of this 2020 that you have to try!

And here ends another of our blogs, we wait for you in the next one! Tell us what topics you would like to talk about in the comments or through social networks. See you soon.

Thanks to Bernat Margalef Estrada for the information he has provided, you can follow him on Instagram, he has beautiful photos @newfloc.