The Spanish Barges.
The Spanish Barges are four separate barge wrecks off Camp Bay, lying at depths from about 8 m to 19–22 m. The two oldest came from works at the Camp Bay jetty and are regarded as the first pieces of Gibraltar's artificial reef. The shallower barges suit newly qualified divers, and the deepest is better for advanced divers.
What's down there.
- Four barges at different depths on one site
- Shallow barges at 8–9 m suit newly qualified divers
- Deepest barge at about 19 m
- The first vessels of Gibraltar's artificial reef
- Octopus
- Cuttlefish
- Conger and moray eels
- Nudibranchs
- Spider crabs and common lobster
- Bream and ballan wrasse
- Gorgonian fans
- Triggerfish
Four barges at 8 m, 9 m, 14 m and 19 m (divegib); other sources give 8–22 m
Shore dive from Camp Bay. Barges 1 to 3 suit Open Water divers of all experience levels; barge 4, at 19 m, is recommended for advanced divers.
How it got there.
Barges 1 and 2 (the original 'Spanish Barges') were gravel-filled work barges used on the jetty at Camp Bay. According to the Helping Hand Trust, Gibunco was working at the water intake inside the Camp Bay jetty, and Dr Eric Shaw persuaded the company to scuttle the barges closer to the shore. RAF divers later named them the 'Spanish Barges', and they became the first two pieces of the artificial reef. Barges 3 and 4 were sunk in the 1980s as part of the Camp Bay artificial reef project. Dimensions and build details are not recorded in the sources found.
30 dives.
From the reconstructed log — the dates follow the pattern I dived, so read them as representative rather than exact.