Golfe de Valinco · France · Pinnacle · Reef
Les Aiguilles
Rock spires off a 45 m plateau, the tallest topping out at 9 m
Area photo: Valinco Drone · CC BY-SA 4.0
Les Aiguilles — the needles — is a submerged rock plateau at 45 m with spires standing off it towards the light, the tallest reaching to 9 m below the surface and the lowest stopping at 25 m. Faults 17 to 25 m deep cut between them and hold grouper and dentex. The Scubago listing puts the rock head at 12 m and the sand around it at 50 m.
Where it is and how deep
41.6930° N, 8.7945° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
You descend on the spires themselves. The highest of them comes up to 9 m, the lowest stops at 25 m, and the plateau they stand on lies at 45 m, so the whole dive is a matter of choosing how far down the rock you go. The site is a group of peaks rather than a single rock head, and the sand around them, at 50 m, is the deepest ground on it.
Between the spires the rock is split by faults 17 to 25 m deep, and it is in these that grouper and dentex sit out of the light. Scorpionfish rest on the ledges and nudibranchs work the rock faces, so the site rewards a slow pass along one fault rather than a lap of the whole plateau. Gorgonians grow on the rock between them.
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
- les aiguilles (Porto pollo) — Scubago (SSI)
- Sites et spots de plongée - Porto Pollo (archived) — 3P Porto Pollo Plongée via Wayback Machine
More dive sites in Golfe de Valinco
A 10 m plateau over rock peaks standing off 56 m
Pinnacle
A rock head at 13 m dropping abruptly to sand at 45 m
Pinnacle
A boulder mass from 35 m to 9 m, thick with large grouper
Wall
A rare Corsican black-coral branch in the 35 m zone
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
Reef
Red gorgonians that read blue at 30 to 45 m
Similar dives elsewhere
An outcropping rock with an Open Water north side and a ridge sinking to 50 m
Pinnacle
Deli Mehmet
Ayvalık & Cunda Islands · Turkey
Twin hills ringed with red coral between Kız Adası and Burhaniye
A shoal off Fetovaia beach rising from 50 m to 10 m with large red gorgonians
A steep gorge to 25 m holding the remains of an old anchorage