In early September I was one of a party of six, four divers and two non-diving partners who went for a week to Argelès-sur-Mer in the south of France. Argelès is a coastal resort close to the Spanish border, set close to where the Pyrenees mountains meet the sea, making it an area of considerable natural beauty with a rich local history. It also boasts some excellent diving, and the purpose of the trip was to enjoy both.
The diving was straight forward. We went through a local dive school who provided equipment hire, refills, a boat and guided dives. The surface sea temperature was 24 degrees, visibility was good most of the time, and being the Mediterranean there were no tides or strong currents to worry about.
There was lots of wildlife to enjoy, particularly in the Côte Vermeille Nature Reserve. We saw lots of fish, including some very large groupers and plenty of moray eels. But the undoubted star of the trip were the seahorses. These take patience, local knowledge and a fair bit of luck to find. They prefer shallower water and live among beds of weed which camouflage them brilliantly.
When not diving we all enjoyed visiting the area, which has plenty of places to see. There are walled towns in the mountains, pretty villages with bustling local markets and caves full of stalactites and stalagmites, all of which we managed to fit it between dives. A very enjoyable trip.
