An iron beacon marks the wide granite relief of Secca di Santa Caterina, a catalogued point of the Capo Carbonara marine protected area. The rock rises to about 12 m and degrades past 30 m, in fissured buttresses and falls of rounded boulders. Shoals of damselfish, picarel and bogue hold over it, and the groupers in the cracks are used to divers.
Where it is and how deep
39.0868° N, 9.5016° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
The beacon on the surface marks the granite relief that forms the secca, whose shallowest buttresses stand at about 12 m and degrade from there past 30 m. Fissured bastions pocked with tafoni alternate with falls of large rounded boulders, and what the park notes about the ground is the variety of routes it offers: pick a flank, work the rock at depth, then finish on the shallow crown of the secca.
Among the boulders lie two anchors of modern date and the lead stock of a Roman one, worth slowing down for. Dense shoals of damselfish, picarel and bogue stack over the rock, and amberjack, bonito and dentex cut into them, which is when the small fish bunch and flick. Groupers look out from the cracks: brown grouper mostly, with golden grouper and the red Mycteroperca rubra for anyone watching carefully, and some of them are large and let divers close.
Marine life and season
- Groupers
- Reef fish swarms
- Trevally & jacks
| 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.
Questions divers ask
How deep is Secca di Santa Caterina?+
The granite rises to about 12 m at its shallowest and degrades past 30 m; the marine park gives 30 m as the site maximum. A normal recreational profile works one flank deep, then finishes on the shallow top of the secca.
Sources
- Secca di Santa Caterina - Immersioni in AMP — Area Marina Protetta Capo Carbonara
- Immersioni in AMP - dive site index — Area Marina Protetta Capo Carbonara
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