In September 2008 I spent three days shore diving with Dave Gledhill’s Club Nautique Nerja just east of Marina del Este, La Herradura.

On the first day Dave took me to Goby Point and The Gullies for three dives where the two of us saw numerous Hermit Crabs, Nudibranches, Octopuses and Scorpionfish and even a small cuttlefish. I used my Tokina 10-17mm which worked well with most of these subjects.

We started the second day with a dive at Fraggle Rock, my dive 1571, undoubtedly the highlight of this short trip. The small large rocky outcrop in the centre of Marina Bay is well known in diving circles as a cleaning station for Mola Mola otherwise known as Ocean Sunfish. The best time to see Mola Mola at Fraggle Rock is from June to August when it is believed that as a consequence of the rising sea temperature, they attract more parasites and a visit to the cleaning station becomes imperative. This underwater sea mount can be reached from the beach but is easier to dive by boat. However as Dave and I did not have a boat, we finned out from the shoreline for about 10 minutes until Dave was able to line up a couple of shore co-ordinates and we then dropped down onto the seaward side of this outcrop. The underwater visibility was excellent and I was immediately impressed by this site. Possibly it was my imagination but I felt it had a special ambience and sensed I would not be disappointed with this dive. In the hope of seeing something big I once again had my Tokina 10-17mm lens with me ….and the first subject we spotted was a Nudibranch!  Admittedly a big Nudibranch as Nudibranchs go but hardly an ideal subject for a wide-angle lens. Dave found a Conger Eel but it was too well hidden in a crack for a good shot and then out of the blue drifted a Mola Mola, only the second Mola Mola I have seen. I tried to drift in unobtrusively towards the half-metre long juvenile. Dave said that he had seen Mola Mola on this site up to three times as big, that is, up to one and a half metres in length. I was too excited at seeing a Mola Mola to care about its size. Keeping as still as possible I took what was intended as a preliminary shot but my Inon flash-guns spooked it and it quickly disappeared to the periphery of my vision. I was puzzled. I knew little about Mola Molas but was under the impression that they were not concerned by flash-guns. Fortunately this juvenile seemed rather curious and gradually began to move towards me while I in turn keeping perfectly still, drifted towards it until, according to Dave’s reckoning I was only half a metre away.  Wrasse were busy cleaning it as I again took a photograph. Once again this triggered off a rapid exit and this time, it did not come back. We completed the dive spotting four Nudibranchs as well as a pair of Octopuses. Dave explained there is always the chance of seeing Mola Mola on this dive site at this time of the year.  Perhaps unfairly, I quizzed Dave on the likelihood of seeing one on any single dive at Fraggle Rock and based on his experience this seemed to equate to about one in seven dives in early September. Naturally I wanted to return to Fraggle Rock for our second dive. Unfortunately it looked as though fog might roll in from the sea which given the possibility of boat traffic, would have made it dangerous to ascend to the surface in the event of any problems. So instead we dived Goby Point twice and I switched to my Nikon 60mm lens for the second of these. As the previous day we saw numerous Octopuses, Scorpionfish and Nudibranch.

On my third and final day at La Herradura, Dave and I were joined by my UK friend Lesley Rudd. I had only dived with Lesley once before but knew that despite her relative inexperience she was naturally confident and at ease underwater. Mind you a few more dives with me could change that! Somehow I allowed my mask to become loose before the second dive of the day and it leaked continually making photography very difficult. Unfortunately conditions again prohibited a dive at Fraggle Rock so we dived Goby Point and The Gullies, highlights of which were Hermit Crabs, Octopuses, Blennies , Scorpionfish and unusually for a daytime dive, a free swimming Spanish Dancer.

Having uploaded this trip to my website, Gaynor of Kenna Eco Diving Holidays subsequently e-mailed me to advise that what I believed was a Golden Goby is actually the golden variation of the Variable Blenny Parablennius Pilicornis. Gaynor added that the shape of the head and horns are not as seen on gobies. I have now corrected my mistake. Thank you Gaynor.