Snorkeling in the Medes Islands

The second day I took a day trip to the Medes Islands to snorkel. The 2-hour ride through the Spanish countryside was stunning- castles nestled in between mountains and cornfields line the clear blue coast. The Medes Islands area was a small town with various activities available and small beaches to soak up the sun. Upon arrival we immediately were briefed about safe snorkeling and received our gear to head out to the small boat.

The small islands we were snorkeling around were originally inhabited by pirates back in the day and they sort of reminded me of Tortuga from Pirates of the Caribbean. Now, however, only seagulls graced the large rocky structures off the coast. The water surrounding was littered with various sea life, and I couldn’t wait to take a swim.

Hoping to spot Nemo or Dory, I quickly slipped into my wetsuit. To my surprise, I was the only one who received a hooded wetsuit… so the Hooded Black Wonder set out into the depths to see what she could see, see, see!

The water was absolutely freezing! So I was extremely glad to have a wetsuit. It seems I cannot sink. The entire time I was snorkeling I would float on top of the water as if there was no gravity, or if I wanted to swim below, my wetsuit prevented me from doing so. The sun would beat down on my back, warming me up a bit, so it wasn’t all that bad.

Fish swam around me the entire time, and one even swam up right to my mask. I think we both were equally scared because I jumped and we both swam in the opposite direction. No Nemos or Dorys were to be found, apparently they don’t live off the coast of Spain… but we did see an octopus! It slinked along the bottom seafloor right near the cave I snorkeled in. It often likes to live in the darker habitats to protect itself from predators. Though I don’t know how anything could live in a cave- it was at least 10 degrees colder and much scarier with the little amount of light available.

Our snorkeling adventure ended with a picnic lunch on the beach and sangria by the seaside. I have to say, that is by far my favorite drink of Spain.

I want to touch on my evening just a little bit- even though this blog was supposed to be primarily about snorkeling. In the evening I went around with Alejandro, Andrew, and Hope (all 3 UVA students) with a recent UVA grad studying in Barcelona, Gabby. She took us to a local champagne bar that sold “cava” the local bubbly wine of choice for 1 euro. It was amazing! Forget andre… that stuff was to die for. Of course with my cava I ordered coquettes again, and then we headed out for our second night on the town of Barcelona. We only actually went to one bar more- “Chupitos.” Chupitos might be one of the most brilliant business models for college students. The bar has about 300 shots with random names such as the Vampire, the Monica Lewensky, the Kiss of Death, the Condom, etc. What you do is you pick a random shot and then they make it for you, but don't tell you what is in it. So crazy! One of the best ones was "the Boy Scout", where they lit the bar on fire, you had to roast a marshmallow and then take the flaming shot! The shots are fairly weak, so you can buy quite a few and feel hardly anything, but at 2.50 euro a piece, Chupitos definitely turns a profit.