As a child I had spent many a summer in Mallorca with my family, so deciding to visit Menorca was going to be quite exciting and interesting to compare the two islands.

A week after the security alert at Heathrow we departed from London Gatwick with only a 30 minute wait in a queue. Mind you it was 0400 and one of the first crack of dawn 0540 flighlights, thank goodness. The flight was barely 2hrs long and we arrived to be welcomed by our friendly Cosmos reps.

It took about 45mins to be transfered to our Hotel Sagitario, in Cala Blanca. But we did have to wait a few hours before we could check in as the rooms were still occupied. Not a great start to a very long day already. So we decided to venture out for a second breakfast and a local liquid refreshment tasting session.



Set in flourishing palm-fringed gardens, the friendly and lively international Hotel Cala Blanca is a sure hit for those seeking a lively holiday base and especially suitable for families and couples with something to satisfy all tastes. 200m from Cala Blanca beach. It's a quick stroll to a sandy shallow cove dotted with cafe-bars and around 1.5 kilometres from the hub of Cala Blanca commercial centre and night-life. Regular buses will also take you into Ciudadela for a day out.

Menorca is the second largest of the Balearic Islands, and has been declared a Biosphere Reserve because of its beauty and is well known as one of the jewels of Mediterranean diving. With its crystals clear waters, this unspoilt island offers spectacular diving. One of the most exciting dives is Pont den Gil that is a submerged cavern full of ancient stalagmites, stalactites, limestone columns and underground beaches. The diving was from 7.5m Ribs through MenorcaTech who organise recreational and technical diving.

Day 1 diving involved a check out dive, particularly for our newly qualified Kasia. This was her first sea dive and her husband Slav marked the occasion by congratulating Kasia by giving her an underwater kiss on the cheek. Arh ! The first dive was at Punta Quintana in Cala Blanca just 10mins boat ride away. Actually all the dives were only 5-10mins away. This site offered unusual rock formations, swim throughs and open tunnels. As the picture shows above. Maximum depth we found was 18m. We were given the dive centre van to drive back to the hotel for a swim in the pool and lunch. Which ended up being used all week so we could drive ourselves to the centre and back each day. Thanks Mark. Slav was designated driver for the week, as I had a go but got into difficulties on a very steep incline not being able to pull away in 1st gear. Doh! Obviously needed a bit of Polish Poke to get the old beast moving. Anyway, our second dive was at 3:30pm and at Cala n Forcat. Many Scorpionfish were spotted, big boulders and swim throughs. Maximum depth was 21m and visibility was definitely in the 20m + range all week.

Day 2 site was Ponta Perpinya where we witnessed a Moray Eel swimming outside of its den looking for another spot to hide. Many swim throughs and cracks to navigate. The water temp was 25c on the first top layer of 35m. Around the 40m depth range and further you would be welcomed to a chilly 18c. So 5mm wetsuits were a must and a lack of bladder control was essential. ! Dive 2 was at Cala n Brut where we went into a big cavern. You must be on the look out for Scorpionfish on the entrance of these caverns as they are everywhere. Inside there were hermit crabs, purple starfish and smooth naked limestone boulders. It is amazing how as you go further in a cavern there is less coral growth on the rocks. But you do get a lot of marine life living in the nooks and crannies away from larger predators.

Day 3 was our first wreck dive of the week and it was the famous Malakoff Wreck, a French-owned freighter which sank in about 1929. She originally displaced around 7000 tonnes, and her cargo lies scattered on the seabed in 27m of water. You can still find the remains of sewing machines and china. Maximum depth here was 39m to the bottom. Only 3 of us were able to take advantage of the Technical Steel Twinset kit avaialble for hire due to our training and thus managed to do a run time of 70 mins using 28% back gas and 67% deco from a 7L ally - myself Caroline and Slav. We managed to dive as a group for most of the week, where some divers were using single tanks and others twins. The Malakoff wreck is an exceptional fully colonised artificial reef with outstanding fish life. There was a big school of Barracuda on the bow section swimming through the remaining superstructure of the wreck. We spotted near the stern 3 different sized Nudibranch, which may have had a local name such as "Dotted Sea Slug". Then close by a very large sleepy looking Scorpionfish. Swimming back to the shot line 3 Moray Eels in separate spots made their presence known to us. This was a chilly 18c dive and I was glad when it was time to start my ascent with my buddies. The afternoon dive was at Cala n Forcat but different to the day before. The wind had picked up quite a bit thus we had to change our plan and find a plan b dive. This was very pleasant just like the other and 17m of depth.

Day 4 was a 40m on the Salvage Platform. Only Kevin and Kasia didn't dive this site, due to their certification, experience and comfort levels. Sounds boring, but actually even though it was a small wreck, as you can see the whole thing as you descend. There were many areas of the wreck you could enter and a mass of teeming growth smothering the wreck. I popped inside of what I thought was the engine room and found an array of clocks and dials. One had its glass broken with a small fish taking up residence and swimming over the dial face. There must have been about 6-8 Catfish also living within the wreck and quite happy to move out of our way and then settle back down once we had passed. A small wreck but a very good platform for Technical training dives, and yes it was 18c again. For example I qualified Slav as a PSAI Decompression Procedure Diver on that very dive. Dive 2 we had something a little special to look forward to. The boat left the harbour at 0830 and took us to the famous submerged cavern of Pont den Gil. I would describe this site as a "cathedral-like opening under the cliffs." The entrance to the cavern was quite wide and then narrowed. We were asked to surface at this point, take our regulators out and mask off. What a site, amazing ancient stalagmites, and stalactites, and limestone columns. We took pictures and chatted about how marvellous this was. Stalagmites (up), and stalactites (down) are made by freshwater dripping through the limestone of the island and over, millions of years produce strange looking architecture. We descended and swam further where a kind of separation wall split the cavern into to tunnels for a matter of feet, which lead to very shallow water and the underground beach. Yes a miniature underground beach. Again we chatted for a while to make sure the sand settled before as we turned around to follow our tracks back out. The last part of the cavern had an extra chamber and second exit, which we all swam through one by one. This dive is a must when visiting Menorca, and make sure you take a camera. Maximum depth was 14m, so fantastic as a second easy but mind blowing dive.

Day 5 our last days diving started with the Francisquita wreck at 50m. Just a few miles off the north-west of Menorca, the 500 ton coaster Francisquita sprang a leak and foundered in December 1952. The wreck stands upright, rising 10m from a 49m seabed. Expect beautiful visibility and a spiralling shoal of barracuda. I managed to get 48m with a run time of 67 mins using a helium back gas of 24/22% and 50% deco. This was a very good wreck and plenty of areas to swim through and explore. The viz was even more spectacular than the other dives. At least 30-40m viz. Probably the best wreck they have in that depth range. There is another but it is at 97m. Next time? Our final dive of the holiday was open for suggestion to how we commemorated it. Such as a naked dive! However, nobody took the plunge. This was my longest dive of the holiday with a run time of 74 mins and maximum depth of 21m. We ventured into a large semi closed area, which did look as though it would change into a cavern but didn't. A few minutes later the whole group surfaced to be blinded by sunlight streaming through a hole in the limestone roof of a shallow reseeding cavern. This was another spectacular site imprinted on my brain. It was similar to looking up at a churches roof interior and seeing the light flooding through and the blue sky behind. Fantastic. That was not the end of the dive as we turned around and scoured the giant boulders for life and swim throughs. Mark mentioned if we had enough air when back at the boat to go past it further and look for some more caverns. Yes we did do this, and yes found the lip to the opening of our last memorable cavern. At the back were several shrimps dancing in our very powerful Greenforce umbilical lamps. I put my hand over the torch to see if there was any light coming in elsewhere. Yes there was to my right and off we went to investigate a potential exit area. Spotted another Scorpionfish on the exit. Couldn't have been better as the hole was bigger than a diver when I saw Whippet hovering just outside of the hole unaware of our little adventure. What a really great dive to end the holiday.

The island has many other dive sites, including several other cavern systems and caves and offers a wide range of marine life including Barracuda, Large Bream, Moray, Red Scorpionfish and Grouper to name a few.

Our last day was spent relaxing by the pool or at Cala Blanca beach. Tapas and Paella restaurants are built into the limestone rocks either side of the small bay, which you may be able to see in the photo below.

I would highly recommend Menorca as only English families go there and the Spaniards. So no larger louts at all. The small Cala Blanca beach we used was absolutely picture postcard material. MenorcaTech was also great, and Mark Moss who is English has been living in Menorca running his business for the last 10 yrs. MenorcaTech run three boats as a shuttle trip. 0830, 1230 and 1330 each day in high season. Air, nitrox and Helium mixes are easily arranged and pumped at the centre which is in the middle of Ciutadella. We thought Menorca was better than Malta for several reasons. The Sagitario Hotel was a pleasant 3* rated Hotel and was situated in a peaceful area of Menorca. Taxi's cost 8 Euros to Ciutedella each way or the bus every hour which was 1.5 Euros. Nonetheless, Menorca lacks the sophisticated nightlife of its larger sister Mallorca. Development has been mostly residential, so villas and apartments are more readily available than package-holiday hotels. This island, only 50km long and 15km wide, caters for those who prefer a quieter time, and the natives are a little less brash than their richer neighbours.

Cala Blanca Beach. Our hotel is not in the picture but is to the left of the shot.

With thanks to Cosmos, and MenorcaTech for making our holiday enjoyable. The dive team included myself Serena Barnard, Caroline Trewhitt, Slav Krause, Kasia Krause, John Horgan (Whippet) and Kevin Dykes. Plus the non-divers Juliet Dykes and the little ones Safiya and Roisin Dykes. Photos courtesy of Steve Bateman and Slav Krause. And a good websearch technician.

Kasia - or Kate Bush!

Serena - In the zone

Slav and Kasia - The happy couple

Caroline - cheeky!

Whippet dazzled by the light in Pont den Gil

3 Beauties - White Whippet, Serena & Kasia