Bill,

Estartit is a little 'kiss me quick' in places, although the harbour area
and the main shopping street are nice. It's also has a very large beach and
some good glass bottom boat trips.  I found that area not particularly
picturesque, but just a few miles away are some lovely spots, so heres my
highlights:

I assume your going to have a car, if not get one for a few days.

If you driving down be aware that the motorway between Tolouse and the coast
gets VERY busy at the weekend.  We drove down on a Friday and spent three
hours trying to find somewhere to stay in Tolouse, in retrospect we should
have pressed on that night.  The next day at 10am the coast road was jammed.
If you go up or down that road, go out of peak hours.

A few K's down the coast from Estartit is Pals which is a lovely walled town
selling arty crafty bits & bobs & excellent ice cream.

Further on down next to Palafruell is Llafranc which is a very pretty town
on a beautiful bay.  There is a lovely gently sloping beach and excellent
snorkelling, very child friendly.  There are also two scuba schools but I
didn't investigate.  If you like Rioja then as you drive into Palafruell
from Pals there is a very good wine warehouse on the right, it's the large
purple building, you can't miss it!

All the way down the coast are little bays and you will just stumble over
the beaches.  The coast road is spectacular, so take a good camera.  I found
this site after we got back http://catalunya.org.uk/web/pages/index.html,
it's just promoting someones villa, but it does list the good beaches and
some places to visit.

We didn't explore the area as much as we should have and I would definitely
suggest finding a good guide book & map before you go.  The Costa Brava is
genrally under exploited IMHO, although some of the big coastal towns are
definately not my cup of tea.  However, having said that we were about to
book for the same location again next year and were only swayed by an
alternative personal recommendation.  I'd definately go back, this afternoon
if I had half a chance!

And the two things I wanted to say about the diving are, definately get your
AOW and a few dives in before you go and take a good torch.  There are
plenty of large caverns/tunnels to swim through, but without a torch it's
just a 5 minute swim in the dark

When I get Dreamweaver working on my mac and a fair few hours to spare, I'll
try and update my website with some pictures www.gallagher.org.uk (I
wouldn't bother at the moment it's a little out of date).

Hope this helps!
Mike

Two tips for getting there:

Harry Shaw -City Cruiser of Coventry does coach trips with accomodation (in
caravans or chalets) staying in a park about two miles from the harbour,
one of these places like a poor mans Butlins or Pontins, but ok.
Two adults and a child cost ?400 (self catering) for 17 days (3 of which are
on the bus - a day and a half each way) - 14 nights at site.
Pickups from all over the midlands. Plenty to do on site and in the twon to
keep the non-divers happy whilst you slip off for a few sessions.
Site has three swimming pools, discos, stage shows , restaurants etc.

I flew over with Ryanair to Girona (Barcelona) from Nottingham East Midlands
, booked three months ahead and got there for ?65 return inclusive of
taxes - then the hire car was around ?30 per day (all in) and it is about a
45 minute slow drive or 30 mins fast drive to Estartit.
(I stayed with g/f wo had gone over by method 1 and so stayed there for
free)

Loads of dive centres there, I spotted around 6.