Diving route in La Bota – Ibiza
Diving
ANCHORAGE COORDINATES: 38° 52’ 77,70’’ N | 1° 10’ 76,00’’ E
MAXIMUM DEPTH: 40 M.
TIME: 45 Min.
ROUTE: 150 M.
DIFFICULTY: Media
Situated close to Es Vedrà, La Bota is one of the best dives in the entire island of Ibiza. Its name refers to its underwater pro le, which looks like a boot. La Bota is a shallow area almost a mile north-west of Es Vedrà; which does not actually show above the surface of the sea, although its minimum depth (barely 50 cm.) and its lack of warning (it is not marked by any kind of buoy or lighthouse) mean that we must take particular care when approaching it.
We are in an area with strong currents, so before beginning this route we must ensure that the conditions are favourable, by assessing the strength of the current in order to dive without taking any risks.
Our starting point will be in the western area of the shallows and it would be a good idea to anchor the boat with an anchor at both the bow and the stern in order to stop it turning and getting too close to the shallow area.
As we go down we must limit the depth according to our diving level rather than to how far the bottom is, as it goes down to about 70 metres. The dive will follow a circular route around the highest part of the shallows (the leg of the imaginary boot).
The most recommendable way to go round is west-north-east-south, that is, in a clockwise direction. As we go along we will see that there are few holes in the main rock formation and so it is not surprising that we nd a wealth of marine life in every little nook and cranny.
It is usual on this dive to come across shoals of pelagic sh. The groups of “espets” (small barracuda) are famous and they may accompany us the whole way. However, if we pay attention and look out to the open sea regularly, we can see large pelagic species that come up from deeper down.
As we get further along our circuit, we will come across the rst rock platform at about 30 metres (the instep of the boot) where there are some larger and smaller rocks scattered across the sea oor. On these formations we can see a few benthic sh that use the hollows to hide or hunt in, as there are very few of these formations at lesser depths.
This platform takes us back to the point where our dive began where, depending on our air supply, we may decide to go round again at less depth or to come up after making a safety stop.
