Scoglio del Congresso is a catalogued dive point west of Isola dei Cavoli, inside the Capo Carbonara marine protected area. The park rates it of medium-to-high interest for landscape and fish life, puts the maximum depth at 28 m and passes it as suitable for beginners. A dive-centre listing for the rock argues it deserves more than the zone B protection it currently sits in.
Also known as Congresso, Isola dei Cavoli, Il Congresso.
Where it is and how deep
39.0817° N, 9.5256° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
The site lies west of Isola dei Cavoli, inside the marine protected area, and it is one of the park's entry-level points: a first-level certification covers it. The maximum depth on the card is 28 m, and the dive-centre listing for the rock reports spots for every recreational level, so a group of mixed experience can reasonably dive it together.
What the park singles out is the combination of landscape and fish life, which it rates medium-to-high. Formally the rock sits in zone B of the marine protected area, the partially protected band, and the same dive-centre listing argues it holds enough to have earned zone A instead. No species list, visibility or current figures are published for the point.
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
- Scoglio del congresso - Immersioni in AMP — Area Marina Protetta Capo Carbonara
- Congresso, Isola dei cavoli — Scubago
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
Sea fans on the boulder at the foot of the wall
Reef
A named point off Isola dei Cavoli, granite rather than steel
Wreck
A 1943 torpedo casualty lying in trim at about 35 m
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
A reef from 1.5 to 30 m with a wreck at 40 m beyond, dived day and night
A clear-water reef 100 m offshore below the Aggelokastro castle
Rock formations and faults on ground from 5 to 30 metres
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Old fishing nets turned into a reef, with congers and groupers underneath