Cap de Creus · Spain · Pinnacle · Reef
Messina
A 40 m rocky canyon through a submerged mountain
Area photo: Alan Mattingly · CC0
A submerged mountain about 2.4 km (1.5 miles) east of Portlligat, dived between 12 and 25 m and split by a rocky canyon some 40 m long. Currents are usually weak and visibility often better than 20 m, which makes it one of the more forgiving sites on this coast despite a fish list that runs to groupers, dentex, conger eels and gorgonians.
Also known as Illa Messina.
Where it is and how deep
42.2902° N, 3.3087° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
The mountain is submerged, so there is nothing to line up on from the surface and the dive begins on the boat's mark. Below, the profile stays in a narrow band between 12 and 25 m, which makes this an unusually relaxed dive for the cape: with weak currents and visibility often in excess of 20 m, a team can cover a lot of rock without much of the fin-work or gas-planning that the exposed sites demand.
The canyon is the feature. Roughly 40 m long, it cuts through the rock and gives the dive an obvious spine to follow, with walls close enough on either side to search as you go. Gorgonians stand off the harder edges, conger eels sit back in the deeper holes, and groupers and dentex patrol the open ground at either end, with schools of flying fish over the shallower water above the mountain.
Marine life and season
- Groupers
| 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.
Questions divers ask
What is the visibility like at Messina?+
The site is noted for weak currents and visibility often in excess of 20 m, which is why it is one of the easier dives in the area to plan around. Conditions on this coast still swing with the wind.
Sources
- Messina — Scubago (SSI MyDiveGuide) — Scubago / SSI
More dive sites in Cap de Creus
Reef
A 40 m canyon at the end of a 5 to 20 m drop-off
The park's best-known walls, and a cave with an air pocket
Cave & cavern
A drop-off to 45 m and an air pocket from 14 m to 3 m
Wall
Drop-off from 27 to 40 m, then scree at 20 m
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
Similar dives elsewhere
A steep gorge to 25 m holding the remains of an old anchorage
A rock spine with a crest at 12 m and groupers along its length
The sec du Pelu, renamed for the groupers that hold on it
Serpent stars that turn from black to red under a torch