Golfe de Valinco · France · Reef
La Roche Bleue
Red gorgonians that read blue at 30 to 45 m
Area photo: Valinco Drone · CC BY-SA 4.0
La Roche Bleue is a rock plateau in the 30 to 45 m band, covered in red gorgonians that at this depth read as blue, the effect the Porto-Pollo centre describes on it. The boat drops you on rock at 25 m; the north side of the site falls to 40 m and the south side to sand at 47 m. Nudibranchs, moray, dentex and grouper live on it.
Where it is and how deep
41.6959° N, 8.8005° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
The descent lands on rock at 25 m, the shallowest ground on the site, and the plateau spreads out from there through the 30 to 45 m band. North of the rock the bottom is at 40 m; south of it the sand lies at 47 m, so the north side is the more forgiving way to run the profile.
The gorgonians are the point of the dive. They are red, but at this depth the water has taken the red out of them and the Porto-Pollo centre describes them as looking blue — a light brought down here puts the colour back into the fans one at a time. A wide variety of nudibranchs is on the rock between them, with moray, dentex and grouper on the plateau.
Marine life and season
- Groupers
- Nudibranchs
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Off-season | Off-season | Off-season | Fair | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair | Off-season |
Season follows Golfe de Valinco: Both centres run April to November and close for the winter; the water is about 15 °C at the edges of that season and 25 °C at its height.
Sources
- La roche bleue — Scubago (SSI)
- Sites et spots de plongée - Porto Pollo (archived) — 3P Porto Pollo Plongée via Wayback Machine
More dive sites in Golfe de Valinco
Pinnacle
Rock spires off a 45 m plateau, the tallest topping out at 9 m
Pinnacle
A pinnacle awash at the surface with a 40 m drop-off on its west face
Pinnacle
Rock towers rising from 50 m to 6 m below the surface
Pinnacle
A peak from 35 m to 12 m with gorgonians on its east face
A 10 m rocky reef under a Genoese watchtower
Reef
Protected training water at the dive centre's own beach
Wall
A north-south drop-off from a 5 m rock head into 45 m
A 10 m plateau over rock peaks standing off 56 m
Similar dives elsewhere
Reefs, caves and drop-offs from 5 m to 50 m by the research station
Red gorgonians on scattered rock, 15 m down to 48 m
Reef
Conca delle Monache
Taranto & the Gulf of Taranto · Italy
A deep ridge where groupers patrol below 33 m
A buoy descent into the crater, with big groupers and morays