Costa Blanca · Spain · Reef
El Portet
A varied 10–20 m reef with everything from lobsters to barracuda
Area photo: diego_cue · CC BY-SA 3.0
Moraira's local reef, a mixed site at 10 to 20 m with something for every diver: rock, vegetation, coral growth and a long list of Mediterranean fish. Octopus, red mullet, moray eels, scorpionfish, parrotfish and lobsters live in the reef, with stingrays, flying gurnards and barracuda on the list as well.
Where it is and how deep
38.6813° N, 0.1473° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
El Portet is the varied dive close to Moraira, and the profile is simple: the site runs from 10 m at the top to 20 m at the bottom, so most of the dive is spent at a mid depth working over the reef. What the site offers is range rather than any single feature, with rock, vegetation and coral growth mixed together and a marine-life list wide enough to keep a camera busy for the whole dive.
In the rock look for octopus, moray eels, scorpionfish and lobsters, with red mullet and parrotfish moving over the reef. Stingrays and flying gurnards are bottom-dwellers, so look for them on the open ground between the rock, and barracuda are on the operator's list for the water above. With the top of the site at 10 m, the end of the dive is spent over the shallower reef before the ascent.
Marine life and season
- Octopus & cuttlefish
- Barracuda
- Stingrays
| 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 Costa Blanca: Dived all year, but the water sits near 14 °C from January to March and the season is treated as starting in spring; peak-season boat traffic closes some cave surfacing.
Questions divers ask
How deep is El Portet?+
The reef runs from 10 to 20 m, which keeps the dive within Open Water limits and gives a long, easy profile.
What marine life is at El Portet?+
Octopus, red mullet, barracuda, moray eels, scorpionfish, parrotfish, stingrays, flying gurnards and lobsters are all listed for the site.
Sources
- El Portet - Scubago — Scubago
More dive sites in Costa Blanca
Cave & cavern
A 50 m training cavern at 17 m, 15 minutes from Moraira port
Passages of light between enormous boulders, white gorgonians throughout
Cave & cavern
Barracuda at the cave corner and an open chamber to surface in, off-season
Reef
Swim-throughs between boulders and three kinds of ray on the sand
Wall
One-way along the Peñón to 27 m, ending in the arches of Los Arcos
Wall
A sea-cut bowl in the Peñón to 35 m where amberjack and barracuda gather
Two faces of a rocky islet: boulders to 26 m, Posidonia shallows and barracuda shoals
Reef
A maze of fallen-boulder arches at 15 m, crusted with sponges and anemones
Similar dives elsewhere
A plateau below the lighthouse with barracuda, groupers and cuttlefish
An arch and a cave with barracuda schools, over sand and posidonia
Ridge tops at 5 m, a Classical amphora, and amberjack hunting over the reef
A protected cove at 5–20 m with passages to swim