Cap d'Agde · France · Reef
Les Merveilleuses
A run of coralligenous rock on a 21 m bottom
Area photo: Christian Ferrer · CC BY-SA 3.0
Les Merveilleuses is a sequence of coralligenous rocks on a 21 m bottom off Cap d'Agde, dived at 20–24 m, and one of the best known sites on this coast. It is representative rather than dramatic: the same topography and the same animals as the reefs around it, with congers in the cracks, octopus, scorpionfish and lobsters along a run of rock you can work slowly.
Where it is and how deep
43.2488° N, 3.5154° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
The site is a sequence of coralligenous rocks on a 21 m bottom, dived at 20–24 m, and it works as a tour along the line of them: you drop onto the first rock and follow the run, staying down at the edge where the coralligenous meets the sand, because that is where most of the animals are. Nothing about the profile is demanding — the whole dive sits at one depth.
What is on it is the standard Cap d'Agde coralligenous list, complete rather than exceptional: congers back in the holes, octopus in the rock, scorpionfish flat against it, lobsters under the ledges. Scubago calls it one of the best known dive sites on the Cap d'Agde coast and rates it as one that will suit divers from the newest to the most experienced; the depth is what decides who is on the boat.
Marine life and season
- Octopus & cuttlefish
- Macro critters
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Off-season | Off-season | Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair | Fair |
Season follows Cap d'Agde: Abyss Plongée opens March to December; the sea averages 12 °C in February and 22 °C in August, and the Tramontane or Mistral can stop the boats in any month.
Sources
- Les Merveilleuses — Scubago (SSI MyDiveGuide)
- Sites de plongée — Abyss Plongée
More dive sites in Cap d'Agde
Wreck
A 25 m cod boat lost in a storm in 1913, on 12 m of sand
Reef
White gorgonian at 35–40 m, dived on technical setups
Reef
A sheltered 7 m dive beside the Deux Frères rocks
Reef
Two 2 m blocks where a dive can count fifty spiny lobsters
Reef
Coralligenous rocks at 18–19 m west of the Brescou rock
Reef
Faults and overhangs in two coralligenous blocks at 21 m
Reef
Nine coralligenous reefs at 20–24 m, linked by guide wires
Reef
Black volcanic rock in 3–11 m, with octopus through the holes
Similar dives elsewhere
A reef grown over 2,000-year-old amphorae at 13-18 m
An island wall from 2 m to 18 m over posidonia meadow
A small sponge-lined cavern at 22 m off the lighthouse islet
A rock off the town's port, 5 m down to 24 m