Cabo de Gata-Níjar · Spain · Wall
Las Cuatro Uñas
Sardine schools hunted by small tuna at the end of summer
Area photo: Konrad Hädener from Thun, Switzerland · CC BY 2.0
Las Cuatro Uñas is a shallow wall dive in the Carboneras corner of the Cabo de Gata Natural Park, with a maximum depth of 10 m and access from either boat or beach. It is an easy dive that earns its keep in late summer, when the shallow wall briefly turns into a hunting ground.
Where it is and how deep
36.9612° N, 1.8989° WApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
You can reach Las Cuatro Uñas from a boat or straight off the beach, and with a maximum depth of 10 m the whole dive stays in the shallows. The route follows a rock wall at an unhurried pace with generous time at depth — the kind of profile that suits a second dive of the day or a diver still finding their feet after certification.
The wall carries the life: large schools of bream, octopus tucked into the rock, and drifting salps are easily found. Time it for the end of summer and the site changes character — huge schools of sardines push along the wall with small tuna hunting them, the closest thing these shallows offer to open-water action.
Marine life and season
- Reef fish swarms
- Octopus & cuttlefish
- Tuna
- Sardine baitballs
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair | Fair |
Season follows Cabo de Gata-Níjar: Visitor season peaks spring through summer; surface water swings from 10-15 °C in winter to 21-30 °C in summer, with 22 °C still logged in October.
Sources
- Las Cuatro Uñas dive site — Scubago
- Las Cuatro Uñas dive site (SSI MyDiveGuide) — SSI MyDiveGuide
More dive sites in Cabo de Gata-Níjar
Reef
Try-dive shallows at 3-5 m, groupers on the way to 16 m
Cave & cavern
Gliding through light-filled rock canyons inside 12 m
Eagle rays and hunting barracuda on the island's outer wall
Seamount
Dropping through a volcano-shaped crater to an arch full of eels
Reef
Small octopus on the anchorage rock at 5 m
Wreck
A WWII bomber engine standing alone in the sand at 27 m
Cave & cavern
A natural rock tunnel to swim through at 15-20 m
Cave & cavern
Volcanic cave diving without an advanced card
Similar dives elsewhere
Flat reef to 18 m, then a wall to about 40 m
A 3-8 m plateau, then a wall the catalogue traces past 90 m
Vertical walls to 50 m with barracuda schools and hunting amberjack
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The park's best-known walls, and a cave with an air pocket