The Medes Islands are a group of seven islets off L'Estartit on Spain's Costa Brava, designated in 1983 as one of Spain's first marine protected areas. Caves and tunnels around the islands, such as Cau del Molls, allow for swim-through diving, and more than four decades of a fishing ban have brought a strong recovery in populations of large groupers and conger eels. In summer, the site operates under a permit system that caps the number of divers allowed in per day.
