Elba & the Tuscan Archipelago · Italy · Pinnacle · Wall
Secca di Fonza
A shoal 100 m off Fonza beach: cap at 4 m, east wall straight to sand at 40 m
Area photo: CTHOE · CC BY-SA 3.0
The Secca di Fonza is a shoal about a hundred metres off Fonza beach on Elba's south coast. Its cap is at 4 m and the east-facing wall drops straight to sand at 40 m, so one rock gives a shallow top and a deep face. Grouper, barracuda, snapper, amberjack and tuna are listed here along with clouds of damselfish, octopus, hermit crabs, dogfish and red coral.
Where it is and how deep
42.7326° N, 10.2838° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
The shoal lies about a hundred metres from Fonza beach and its cap comes up to 4 m, so you start on the top in shallow water. Settle on the cap, check the group and then move to the eastern edge, where the rock becomes a wall. From here the whole dive is a matter of how far down that face you choose to go, and that is decided before anyone leaves the cap.
The east-facing wall plummets to the sand at 40 m. Descend it to the depth you have planned, with the rock on one shoulder, and work the face on the way back up: octopus, hermit crabs, dogfish and red coral are all listed for this shoal, so look into holes and shaded ledges as you go. Keep the return route along the same face so you come up onto the cap rather than into open water.
Off the wall the water carries the fish: grouper on the rock, clouds of damselfish over it, and barracuda, snapper, amberjack and tuna passing by, so give some of the ascent to watching the blue. The cap at 4 m is a natural safety stop with damselfish for company, and because it is so shallow you can spend the end of the dive there before you return to the boat.
Marine life and season
- Groupers
- Barracuda
- Trevally & jacks
- Tuna
- Reef fish swarms
- Octopus & cuttlefish
| 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 Elba & the Tuscan Archipelago: The season runs May–September with a warm October; the sea bottoms out near 14 °C in February–March, spring and autumn winds push boats to sheltered sites, and Pianosa's buoys open April–November.
Know before you go
- The east wall drops straight to sand at 40 m from a 4 m cap: control the descent and agree a floor before leaving the top.
Questions divers ask
How deep is the Secca di Fonza?+
The cap of the shoal is at 4 m and the east-facing wall drops to the sand at 40 m, about a hundred metres off Fonza beach.
Sources
- Secca di Fonza — Scubago
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