Cap de Creus · Spain · Reef · Wall
Forallons de Culip
Canyons, rifts and drop-offs between 10 and 30 m
Area photo: Alan Mattingly · CC0
A rock-formation dive off Cala Culip, the cove on the north side of the Cap de Creus headland, where canyons, rifts and drop-offs run through depths of roughly 10 to 30 m. Groupers, moray eels and lobsters live in the structure rather than above it, and the moderate depth range lets an intermediate team work the site slowly.
Where it is and how deep
42.3252° N, 3.3127° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
The site is all structure. Canyons cut between the rock formations, rifts split them further, and drop-offs fall away from their outer edges, so the dive becomes a matter of following one line of rock until it hands you to the next. Depths generally vary between 10 and 30 m, which means a team can take in the shallow rifts and the deeper drop-offs on a single profile without pushing anything.
Life sits inside the rock rather than out in the open. Groupers hold station in the wider gaps and under the overhangs, moray eels occupy the narrow ones, and lobsters back into the deeper recesses, alongside the variety of other Mediterranean species the catalogue records here. The site is rated for intermediate to advanced divers, which reflects the depth range more than any one hard section of the dive.
Marine life and season
- Groupers
- Macro critters
| 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 Cap de Creus: Jun–Sep is warmest and calmest; the Tramuntana blows hardest in winter and spring and regularly cancels boats for days at a time.
Sources
- Forallons de Culip — Scubago (SSI MyDiveGuide) — Scubago / SSI
More dive sites in Cap de Creus
Pinnacle
A 40 m rocky canyon through a submerged mountain
A marine-reserve cove under the Cap de Creus lighthouse
Reef
Protected island rock from 12 m to past 40 m
Pinnacle
Up to 25 large dusky groupers on one offshore pinnacle
Wall
Fast drop-off onto a gorgonian platform at 30 m
Seamount
The park's only offshore seamount, 8 m to 60 m
Gorgonian walls in the lee of the tramuntana
Seamount
Seamount rock from 5 m to past 40 m, gorgonians throughout
Similar dives elsewhere
A cove sheltered from wind and swell, 10 m to 30 m
The sheltered fallback dive when the Tramontane blows
A drop-off from about 10 m to 33 m, then a seagrass bed
An island wall from 2 m to 18 m over posidonia meadow