Just over 13 miles across the Straits of Gibraltar, is the Spanish city of Ceuta. Situated on the Northern most tip off the African Coast of Morocco, it’s a place I have always wanted to visit since I was a teenager.
Fast Ferries run every couple hours from Algeciras, making it fairly easy to visit Ceuta. It is possible to leave early in the morning and come back after a day of diving in the evening, but I wanted to experience the culture, food and tourist sites of the city rather than just go diving. For this reason I stayed in a hotel at the centre of Ceuta for two nights, leaving a Friday evening after work and returning back Sunday afternoon.
Ceuta is surrounded by water! On the North Side is the Atlantic Ocean and on the South, the Mediterranean Sea. Depending on the weather and direction of the winds, it is possible to dive on either side! Of the 2 weekends I spent in Ceuta, we did 1 day of diving in the Atlantic Ocean, and 3 days in the Mediterranean Sea. The seabed’s of Ceuta is covered in beautiful purple Gorgonians. I also saw some rare Red Corals deep in the Atlantic Ocean, on some pinnacles also full of marine life.
On the south side, the Mediterranean Sea, I dived a large pinnacle where a rather big anchor is wedged in between the pinnacle’s wall. An old fort is situated on the mountain opposite this dive site, where it is thought that a British ship was attacked and sunk here in the 1800’s, the anchor belonging to the ship, and the wreck now disintegrated with time. At the bottom of the pinnacle lies a Moroccan Patera, used by immigrants escaping Africa to mainland Europe.
My favourite dive site was that of a rather peculiar wreck, a fish farm! The fish farm suffered from strong winds and high seas during a storm in the 1990’s, eventually sinking the entire structure. The wreck lies in 53 metres of water and we did it as a Technical Dive. The average depth on the top of the structure is 45 metres. The wreck is over 100 metres long and comprises of 6 large farms/net compartments and a large accommodation block. The wreck is truly amazing!
I will definitely be back in Ceuta for more diving in the near future! Hasta Pronto Ceuta!
