U Rigonne is an isolated rock on the seabed at 35 m off Erbalunga, a few kilometres north of Bastia, and it is dived for one thing: the resident family of grouper that has colonised it, sharing the rock and its crevices with conger eels, morays and corb.
Also known as U Rigone.
Where it is and how deep
42.7722° N, 9.4779° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The dive is a single-structure deep dive: descend the line to the rock at 35 m, settle, and let the residents come to you. The grouper family that owns the rock is the draw — the fish live calmly alongside the congers, morays and corb that share its holes — and watching behaviour beats covering ground here, so move slowly and stay off the bottom around the rock.
At 35 m the no-stop clock runs fast, so the profile is simple: one descent, a slow circuit or two of the rock, then back up the line with a mid-water safety stop. There is no shallower terrain to extend the dive on, which is why the site sits on the advanced list — deep-qualified divers comfortable ascending in open water.
Marine life and season
- Groupers
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair | Fair |
Season follows Bastia & Cap Corse (East Coast): Centres run year round, but the sea tops 20 °C only from June to October; January–March sit at 14–15 °C.
Sources
- Scubago — U rigonne — Scubago
- Dollfin — U Rigone (site page) — Dollfin
More dive sites in Bastia & Cap Corse (East Coast)
Wreck
A WWII bomber, 'Yehunde', on the seabed at 63 m
Reef
A 2–12 m slope with a colourful drop-off at the surface
Pinnacle
A rocky peak off Bastia's harbour mouth, 22 m down to 44 m
Reef
Imposing grouper circle the rocks down to 35 m
Reef
Grouper, barracuda and fan mussels on rocks at 18–20 m
Reef
Rocks from 8 to 35 m with grouper, barracuda and fan mussels
A WWII fighter at 19 m, cockpit canopy still open
Wreck
A second WWII fighter at 30 m, ringed by thirty corb
Similar dives elsewhere
Maze-like rock stacks full of red sea fans to 40 m
A boulder mass from 35 m to 9 m, thick with large grouper
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Two rock plateaus at 3 m with 36 m of water around them
Rock towers rising from 50 m to 6 m below the surface