Cap d'Agde · France · Reef
Les Tables
Black volcanic rock in 3–11 m, with octopus through the holes
Area photo: Christian Ferrer · CC BY-SA 3.0
Les Tables is the shallow volcanic plateau the Cap d'Agde boats teach on: black rock between 3 and 11 m, close enough to the marina for a half-day trip. The rock carries white gorgonians, soft corals and sponges, shoals of sar and salema pass over the top of it, and octopus sit in the holes. It is a slow, bright dive rather than a deep one.
Where it is and how deep
43.2705° N, 3.5150° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
The dive is a boat drop onto black volcanic rock, unusual enough that Scubago's catalogue calls it unique in Europe at this depth. The plateau runs from about 3 m at its shallowest to 11 m where the rock meets the bottom, so the whole dive sits well inside no-decompression limits and there is daylight on it throughout; a guide can take a group of first-timers around it without the profile ever becoming the problem.
You spend the dive working the rock rather than covering distance. Sar and salema move over the top in large shoals, octopus are everywhere in the holes and under the ledges — Abyss Plongée's own description makes them the signature of the site — and the faces carry white gorgonians, soft corals and sponges with nudibranchs on them. Photographers get shallow light and long bottom times, and the shallow end of the plateau doubles as the safety stop.
Marine life and season
- Octopus & cuttlefish
- Nudibranchs
- Reef fish swarms
- 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.
Questions divers ask
How deep is Les Tables?+
The plateau runs between 3 and 11 m, which is why Abyss Plongée uses it for beginners and why photographers get long bottom times on it.
Sources
- Les Tables — 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
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White gorgonian at 35–40 m, dived on technical setups
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A sheltered 7 m dive beside the Deux Frères rocks
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Two 2 m blocks where a dive can count fifty spiny lobsters
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Coralligenous rocks at 18–19 m west of the Brescou rock
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Faults and overhangs in two coralligenous blocks at 21 m
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Nine coralligenous reefs at 20–24 m, linked by guide wires
A run of coralligenous rock on a 21 m bottom
Similar dives elsewhere
Shallow slabs at 7 m, a site for navigation practice
A big shallow rock pile at 6-10 m
Seahorses, cuttlefish and rays in the sand and posidonia at 12 m
A wide scree field at 8-14 m for slow hunting