SARDINIA DIVER The Med had been a bit of a blind spot for LISA COLLINS – and it’s possible that she has now been a tad spoilt by her first experiences there SARDINIAN SURPRISE S WE CRESTED THE HILL, the Swiss. They had spent many years the archipelago was on the main about her husband’s secret clothes scent of wildflowers strong working in the Maldives and island of La Maddalena. addiction. They clearly loved A in our nostrils, butterflies Indonesia, helping to discover dive- This had been a strategic working together, and shared a real flitting around, we stared at the sites in Raja Ampat while working stronghold for both Napoleon and passion for their company. view below in awe. at Max Ammer’s first resorts on Kri Nelson, and remains of historic Edged by the most vivid blue and and Wai islands. They had been on fortifications from various periods T 7.15 THE NEXT morning we turquoise seas, we might have been Wai when the locals, objecting to are dotted everywhere. Amet Vinny at the custom-built in Micronesia rather than the small the European diving invasion, During the Cold War, the island 11m dive-boat Selamat Jalan , town of Palau in northern Sardinia. burnt the resort down. of Santo Stefanio hosted 1000 US moored in Palau’s main harbour. We were to spend a week exploring Falling for the beauty of Sardinia naval crew and their submarine Vinny’s briefing on the boat these vibrant seas with Dive and the diving around Palau and base. Before leaving, they had said described a large round rock was down to 17°C, as favoured by sea Schools of damsel and cardinalfish Sardegna’s Nautilus Dive Centre. La Maddalena, when they found thank-you by planting a forest of surrounded by smaller rocks. slugs, which were everywhere. filled every crevice. And on the ascent Cooled by a slight breeze, we a small dive business for sale it had pine trees around Palau. As Alex led us down 10m to the Around a corner we startled a big dusky a school of barracuda were circling in the watched as dive-boats, sailing boats, seemed a match made in heaven. The dive season ran from April to top of the rocks, I realised that the grouper, which quickly slipped away. shallows, which would be a regular feature small craft and super yachts bobbed They had developed the company November, and the centre was able site was much larger than I had Vinny had said that there were many shy on our dives. in the harbour or left white trails into the only PADI 5* Gold Palm to dive almost every day, said Steph. expected. In the 25m-plus visibility grouper on the northern side of the rock, across the channel between Palau Resort and BSAC Resort in Palau, With around 40 dive-sites from it extended far beyond my vision, usually at around 30m, so we were lucky E WERE HOPING to dive a large This page, clockwise from and the islands in the La Maddalena and were justifiably proud of it. 5-60 minutes’ boat-ride away, looking as if a giant had knocked to see this one. wreck called the Angelika outside above left: Common W dentex; saupe whistle as they archipelago. sheltered sites were usually over his oversized Jenga bricks. At our deepest point of 24m I saw some the national park to the north, close to the swim; Piseinotecus soussi La Maddalena is a group of six EXT MORNING, with Vinny available. If the mistral from the Mateusz spotted a colourful small white seafans. Alex pointed out a sea deep channel between islands. The site nudibranch; anemone; main islands encompassed by a Nout captaining the dive-boat, north-east was blowing, they would flabellina nudibranch, then Alex bass with bright blue belly. Mediterranean depended on wind and weather and could Tubastrea cup coral is found national park (both marine and we met Steph –“the real boss”, as dive the east side of the islands, and showed me a cut through the rock rainbow, peacock and ornate wrasse fed be prone to current. on rocks at many sites; red land), reaching from a mile off the her husband had called her – and if the wind was from the west, they going down to around 20m. on the reef, along with many two-bar and We had expected our second dive that scorpionfish; triplefin; blackhead blenny; painted Sardinian coast at Palau to the tip of found out more about the area. dived the islands closer to Palau. I sank slowly to hang sharp-snout sea bream. morning to be close to La Maddalena but comber, fat with eggs; Corsica, some eight miles north. The 20,000-hectare national Fortunately the forecast was for just above a thermocline Vinny winked at me – he was trying for ornate wrasse; Cratena My partner and dive-buddy park, formed in 1994, contained light wind, calm seas and sunshine. layer at 14m. The sheer the Angelika . The wind had dropped peregrina ; rainbow wrasse. Mateusz had visited the area 10 many endemic species, we heard. We mentioned Vinny’s comment wall was covered in algaes slightly and was expected to stay that way years before, and had always Most of the islands were about Steph being boss and she and colourful orange for the next hour or two. Left: Alex and Vinny wanted to take me, knowing that uninhabited, and the only town in burst out laughing, confiding in us sponges, tiny yellow tube Forty-five minutes later, Alex released of Nautilus. I would love the scenery. sponges and tubastrea the anchor a short distance from the rocky Far left: View over La Was I happy to finally see what he cup corals. White and outcrop that the 102m cargo vessel had Maddalena Archipelago – had described! I hadn’t believed pale pink algae clung to struck before sinking to 28m in 1982. not so unlike the other Palau. that the sight of Mediterranean the rock like clouds of Surface-swimming a short distance water could be so breath-taking. candy floss. towards the rocks, we descended just We drove down to the town and Mateusz descended before the wreck. Alex checked the anchor found Nautilus’s new shop near the towards me, finding two and set it under a large rock. In the slight car ferry servicing La Maddalena, more other nudibranchs swell, it was important that it was secure. where some 3000 people live. and red starfish on the The wreck lies broken in many pieces, Co-owner Vinny had been born way. As we followed Alex some so covered in algae, corals and in Italy but grew up in the UK, he through the cut, my sponges as to be indistinguishable from told us, and his wife Steph was temperature reading the rocks. The “bones” are strewn di vEr 30 di vErNEt.com 31 di vEr SARDINIA DIVER everywhere. Large parts remain intact but show signs of a violent ending. dusky grouper and one huge gold-speck The wheelhouse was weirdly intact, grouper resting under an overhang. a vertical ladder leading up to a gangway These fish don’t usually allow divers and into a doorway. As Alex swam up the near but, moving very slowly, I managed ladder into the wheelhouse, I could to get quite close to the gold-speck. imagine the crew doing the same. Following him in, I saw a fusebox on the TEPHANIE HAD TOLD us that a must wall. In the next room, the square box Sin Palau was a day-trip on one of the where the controls would have been was many boats in the harbour to visit beaches now open at the sides, cables and wires around the archipelago. tangled inside. On the tip of a wire, Alex’s We joined her recommended boat, torch lit up a purple flabellina. owned and captained by Franco of Palau Large cogs and pilings lay scattered on Blue Tours, and spent a perfect day the rocky seabed. Swimming back towards swimming, snorkelling, enjoying local the rocks, I noticed the anchor-chain, cheese, salami and olives from Franco’s rusted orange. own grove as well as a tasty fresh pasta the dive-boat, with just the slightest hint Clockwise from top left: main course, all washed down with plenty of wind. Vinny looked excited. Octopus wedged into a hole at Spargi; Motore - the INNY WANTED TO show me Motore of cold northern Sardinian white wine. It had been the best weather for some engine and propeller of a Vthe next day – actually the engine- For our final day’s diving, we couldn’t weeks, so he had decided to make the 60- fighter shot down in WW2; block and propeller of a crashed WW2 have asked for better weather. The sea’s minute trip to the northernmost part of big dusky groupers rest in fighter lying in the sand at almost 30m to surface was mirror-calm as we approached the marine park, Lavezzi island in Corsica. the deeper parts of Secca di the north of Spargi Island. There were a few more divers than our Spargiatello; swim-through at Secca di Ponente; Many bids have been made to find the normal 10-12 that day, so Julie would schooling barracuda were a rest of the plane but all have failed. accompany the dive-boat in the RIB with feature at most sites. As we followed Julie our dive-guide three more divers. down across the rocks and expanses of Enjoying the early-morning sun on the Left: White gorgonian.