BY La Manga

La Manga is a luxury holiday resort in Spain and while its many beaches make it perfectly equipped for those who wish to laze their days away with a good book and a fully charged iPod, its adventure sports facilities are second to none.

While it may be hard for holidaymakers to tear themselves away from the region's golden beaches, there is a world to be explored underwater and diving can be a great way to get acquainted with the Costa Calida.

Visitors to the La Manga Club Resort can discover the submerged secrets of the coast with Adventure Divers, a dive centre in the La Manga village of Las Lomas.

The centre is owned and run by Professional Association of Diving Instructors-accredited staff and offers a range of diving courses for different levels of experience, making it ideal for those on family holidays in La Manga.

On a dive in the clear warm waters of the Costa Calida - which translates as the hot coast - holidaymakers can expect to see a rich mixture of aquatic life such as moray eels, barracuda, rays, octopus, turtles, sunfish as well as many multicoloured smaller fish.

Other types of marine life, such as hard and soft coral in addition to sea slugs are also among the exotic entities divers on the Costa Calida are likely to encounter.

Age is no obstacle to a diving escapade in La Manga, with Adventure Divers providing courses for children as young as eight years old.

Children under the age of eight need not miss out on the splendour of what lies under the sea's surface either, as the dive centre can provide guided snorkelling tours for nippers.

For those over eight, the experience is even more varied. A Bubble Makers course gives children aged eight and over the chance to learn how to use scuba equipment in a pool environment.

Meanwhile, those aged 12 and up can become certified divers on a series of four-hour Discover Scuba Diving (Pool and Sea) courses where they can achieve the rank of Junior Adventure Diver, Junior Advanced Open Water Diver and Junior Rescue Diver.

While the youth are catered for, it is also likely that a number of more mature guests will be interested in exploring the wonders of the nautical world.

It was recently revealed that 11 million over-50 year-olds in Britain wish to engage in more adventurous travel over the coming decade.

The study by Alliance & Leicester also revealed that seven per cent of this group want to go scuba diving on their holidays, while a tenth are even interested in flying a helicopter while on their summer break.

There are a range of offshore sites suited to divers of different levels on the La Manga coast, such as the rocky bays of Cala Fria where you may spot scorpion fish and octopus and the beginner site of Portman, home to butterfly ray, electric ray and shoals of damsel fish.

More experienced divers who are interested in wrecks will enjoy exploring the sites of The Turia - El Dragomina - and El Farallon.

The Turia wreckage hosts lots of small schooling fish such as anchovies and sardines as well as larger fish like mackerel and bream, according to Adventure Divers.

Meanwhile, divers looking to spot conger eels may wish to explore the sunken remains of the Isla Gomera at more than 28 metres below sea level.

Adventure Divers list safety as a key priority and in terms of weather and location, diving doesn't get much better than at La Manga Club.

----------------------------------------------------------------------