Corsica · France · Cave & cavern · Reef
Les Arches
Natural rock arches on a 10 m to 30 m band
Area photo: Reustli · CC BY-SA 4.0
Les Arches sits off Porto-Vecchio on Corsica's south-east coast and takes its name from its rock formations, which the catalogue describes as natural underwater arches. The published depth band is 10 m to 30 m, wide enough to run the site as a single multi-level circuit of the formations rather than as a dash to a maximum depth.
Where it is and how deep
41.5479° N, 9.3888° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
The draw here is architecture rather than any single animal: the entry describes rock formations shaped into underwater arches, and the dive is built around swimming through and around them. That gives you something to navigate by, so you work from one span to the next instead of holding a compass line across featureless ground.
Plan it as a multi-level circuit. The published band bottoms out at 30 m, so take the deeper part of the site first, then step up as gas and no-decompression time allow and finish in the 10 m shallows. Nothing beyond the depth range and the arches themselves is published for the site, so agree the route and the turn pressure with the guide before you drop.
An arch is an overhead in miniature. Keep buoyancy settled, look through before you commit, and go around rather than through if there is surge running or your trim is not where you want it. This is a boat dive, and with no current, visibility or marine-life figures published, the operator's briefing on the day is what the plan should be built on.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Off-season | Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair | Off-season |
Season follows Corsica: Operators run Apr–Oct with July and August warmest; the Bouches de Bonifacio funnel wind and can close the crossing at short notice.
Know before you go
- The arches are short overheads — enter only with settled buoyancy and a clear exit in sight, and swim around them if surge is running.
Questions divers ask
What is there to see at Les Arches?+
The catalogue describes the site as remarkable for its natural rock formations in the shape of underwater arches. The dive works across them on a published band of 10 m to 30 m, so most of it is spent looking at structure rather than hunting for a particular species.
Sources
- Les arches — Scubago
More dive sites in Corsica
Rock formations and faults on ground from 5 to 30 metres
Sand slope
A sandbar edge from 3 m to 15 m, used for courses
A 3 m to 15 m nursery plateau in an island reserve
Stepped plateaus at 6 to 20 metres off a bird-sanctuary island
Wreck
A 45 m cement ship on sand, deck at 6 m
Catalogued from 10 to 30 metres on the Chiappa cape
Catalogued from 15 m down to 40 m off Porto-Vecchio
Sand slope
Sand bank, seagrass and rock under the Chiappa light
Similar dives elsewhere
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