Banyuls-sur-Mer & the Côte Vermeille · France · Wall · Reef
Sec de la Daurade
Sheer walls and rock formations between 10 and 25 m off Collioure
Area photo: Florian Pépellin · CC BY-SA 3.0
A shoal off Collioure whose name is the French for gilt-head bream, where rock formations and sheer walls lie between 10 and 25 m. It is dived by intermediate and advanced divers for the terrain and the fish on it: gilt-head bream over the rock, groupers on the walls and moray eels in the cracks.
Where it is and how deep
42.5257° N, 3.1035° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
You descend onto the shoal and follow the rock to its edge, where it drops in sheer walls. The dive works around the formations, using the walls as the route and the top of the shoal as the reference, with the whole site lying between 10 and 25 m so that the deepest ground is at the base of the walls and the shallowest on top.
The walls carry the life. Groupers hold on the faces and in the recesses, moray eels sit in the cracks, and the gilt-head bream that give the site its name move over the rock above. When the plan calls for it, the return is up the wall to the top of the shoal, which serves as the safety stop before the ascent to the boat.
Marine life and season
- Groupers
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair | Fair |
Season follows Banyuls-sur-Mer & the Côte Vermeille: The Banyuls centres open year-round, but the sea averages 12 °C in February against 23 °C in August, the reserve's snorkel trail runs June to September, and the Tramontane can stop boats in any month.
Questions divers ask
How deep is Sec de la Daurade?+
The site lies at depths of between 10 and 25 m, with rock formations on top and sheer walls dropping to the deeper ground.
Sources
- Sec de la Daurade - Scubago — Scubago
More dive sites in Banyuls-sur-Mer & the Côte Vermeille
A 95 m WWII escort cut in two by a torpedo, mast top at 25 m, bow at 50 m
White gorgonians, nudibranchs and lobsters in the faults at 18 to 20 m
The sheltered fallback dive when the Tramontane blows
Reef
Faults and small caves between 5 and 30 m, with groupers and congers in the holes
Reef
Beach entry into a marine reserve, with a signposted underwater trail
Wreck
Broken collier at 44 m; follow the wreckage to a bow with its anchors still in place
Wreck
A 99 m collier on her keel at 45 m, stern broken off, emergency propeller still visible
Wall
Drop-offs, rocks and caves between 15 and 30 m off Banyuls
Similar dives elsewhere
The canyon exit opens onto a wall that falls to 45 m
Three finger reefs from 4 m down to 30 m, minutes from shore
A 200 m wall under sponges, bryozoans and soft corals
.JPG){kind=link}
One-way along the Peñón to 27 m, ending in the arches of Los Arcos