Cabo Tiñoso (La Azohía, Isla Plana & Puerto de Mazarrón) · Spain · Reef · Wall
El Corralón
Cobbles and posidonia at 6 m, a rocky wall out to 20 m
Area photo: Ximonic (Simo Räsänen) · CC BY-SA 4.0
El Corralón is the shallow, clear-water cove that centres here use for beginners and try-dives, inside the Cabo Tiñoso marine reserve. The dive starts on a 6 m bottom of posidonia and rounded cobbles that reads more like a river bed than a sea floor, then follows a rocky wall out towards the point, gaining depth gradually to 20 m over posidonia meadow.
Also known as Corralón.
Where it is and how deep
37.5437° N, 1.1691° WPublished position for this site.
The dive
You start shallow, on a 6 m bottom where posidonia and rounded cobbles lie together in a way that looks more like a river bed than a sea floor. The water is clear and the depth forgiving, which is why this cove takes the courses and the first-time divers: there is no descent line to fight, nothing to swim against, and no reason to hurry the first few minutes of the dive.
From there the route follows a rocky wall towards the point, picking up depth in stages to about 20 m, where posidonia meadow takes over the bottom. The life is the ordinary, good Mediterranean mix: octopus in the rock and the groupers that are common along this coast, with forkbeard, bream, damselfish, conger and moray over the meadow. Turn at the point and the way back is a gradual ascent, which leaves the shallow ground for the end of the dive.
Marine life and season
- Octopus & cuttlefish
- Groupers
| 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 Tiñoso (La Azohía, Isla Plana & Puerto de Mazarrón): June to September is the comfortable window, and visibility can reach 30 m against a 15 m average; centres run trips year-round, with winter water near 15 °C.
Sources
- Corralón — Scubago — Scubago
- Guía de puntos de buceo en Mazarrón y en la Reserva Marina de Cabo Tiñoso — Buceo Hispania
More dive sites in Cabo Tiñoso (La Azohía, Isla Plana & Puerto de Mazarrón)
Seamount
A ridge crest at 14 m with a statue on the seabed below
Seamount
A shoal topping out at 10 m with a 30 m drop and hard backlight
Reef
Two dives in one cove: 20 m to the west, canyons to the east
A cove sheltered from wind and swell, 10 m to 30 m
Groupers hold in the frames of a scuttled minesweeper
Seamount
A submerged rock arch at 5–8 m with a shoal running south
A reddish cut in the Cabo Tiñoso cliffs, down to 30 m
Reef
An island wall from 2 m to 18 m over posidonia meadow
Similar dives elsewhere
Octopus holes on the slope and lobsters on the drop-off
A 40 m canyon at the end of a 5 to 20 m drop-off
A swim-through cave at 12 m beside the mooring
Flat reef, drop-off and wall in one 18 m dive