Parete delle Gorgonie is a wall inside the Capo Carbonara marine protected area, named for the sea fans on the boulder that marks its deepest point at 39 m. The park lists it as a second-level dive, and the face gives a wide choice of routes rather than one fixed line, so a profile can be kept well above the maximum for most of the dive.
Where it is and how deep
39.0900° N, 9.5493° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The wall lends itself to a wide choice of routes rather than a single line, which matters here because the deepest point is 39 m. There is room to pick a working depth and traverse the face, dropping only where the rock invites it, and the marine park asks for a second-level certification on the point: the bottom of the site is deeper than the dive needs to be.
The routes build towards the boulder that gives the wall its name, where the gorgonians grow. That boulder marks the maximum depth of the face, which makes it a place to visit early and briefly before stepping back up along the granite for the rest of the dive. The park's card for the point is short: beyond the sea fans, no species list, current or visibility figures are published for this stretch of wall.
Marine life and season
The sources we used don't single out particular species here.
| 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 Capo Carbonara: May–Oct is the settled season with the warmest water; the mistral and easterlies close the exposed seccas in winter.
Sources
- Parete delle Gorgonie - Immersioni in AMP — Area Marina Protetta Capo Carbonara
More dive sites in Capo Carbonara
A lighthouse islet with granite ground on every side
Reef
Granite weathered into a ship's bow above a Posidonia meadow
Reef
A named point off Isola dei Cavoli, granite rather than steel
Wreck
A 1943 torpedo casualty lying in trim at about 35 m
Entry-level rock west of Isola dei Cavoli
Reef
One circuit around an emergent boulder in 15 m
Pinnacle
A circuit of the boulders around an offshore beacon
Reef
Gorgonian fans thick enough to block the channels
Similar dives elsewhere
Flat reef to 18 m, then a wall to about 40 m
A 3-8 m plateau, then a wall the catalogue traces past 90 m
A drop-off with an overhang shaped like an amphitheatre
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A south-facing canyon to 35 m with an old anchor at its base