Cap de Creus · Spain · Wall · Reef
Les Fulloles
Fast drop-off onto a gorgonian platform at 30 m
Area photo: Alan Mattingly · CC0
A dive between two islets of the Cap de Creus Natural Park, where the rock breaks fast into a drop-off and lands on a platform at 30 m strewn with big boulders and hung with gorgonians. Coralligenous growth, sponges and schooling fish cover the structure, and the combination of current and depth is why it is put to advanced divers.
Where it is and how deep
42.3278° N, 3.3034° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
The dive sits in the gap between two islets, and the water moving through that gap sets the tone. From the top of the rock the profile drops fast rather than gradually, so the descent is the first part of the dive proper: get down, get on the structure and let it take you along rather than fighting to hold a mid-water position while you sort yourself out.
The drop-off finishes on a platform at 30 m built of big rocks with gorgonians standing off them, and that platform is where most of the bottom time goes. Coralligenous crusts, sponges and corballos cover the rock between the fans, and schools of fish work the edges where the platform meets open water. The site takes divers of various levels, but it is recommended for advanced ones, and current plus depth is the stated reason.
Marine life and season
- Reef fish swarms
| 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.
Know before you go
- Current runs between the two islets and the wall drops quickly to the 30 m platform, so plan the descent as a controlled one and keep contact with the rock.
Sources
- Les Fulloles — Scubago (SSI MyDiveGuide) — Scubago / SSI
More dive sites in Cap de Creus
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
Canyons, rifts and drop-offs between 10 and 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
Pinnacle
Maze-like rock stacks full of red sea fans to 40 m
Similar dives elsewhere
Shoals of sargo over fallen boulders, with old fishing-boat debris at 26 m
A 200 m wall under sponges, bryozoans and soft corals
The canyon exit opens onto a wall that falls to 45 m
A stiff wall and a deeper reef cut with cavities, arranged to 24 or 30 m