Reefwander
Aerial view of Propriano's marina and hillside town on the Golfe de Valinco, Corsica.

Golfe de Valinco · France · Reef

Plage du Mancinu

Protected training water at the dive centre's own beach

Area photo: Valinco Drone · CC BY-SA 4.0

The Plage du Mancinu is the beach at the foot of Propriano Plongée's base, and the Scubago entry gives 100 m² of protected water off it with a maximum depth of 9 m. Octopus, oblade and wrasse hide in the rocks and in the posidonia, which makes it a first dive or a skills dive rather than a site anyone travels to for the terrain.

Where it is and how deep

Depth profile of Plage du Mancinu: typical dive to 9 m (to 30 ft) 18 m · Open Water30 m · Advanced40 m · Recreational limit9 mtypical dive
Depths on a shared scale to 40 m (130 ft); dashed lines mark common certification limits.

41.6772° N, 8.9083° EPublished position for this site.

The dive

You walk in from the beach below the club. The protected water off it covers about 100 m² and bottoms out at 9 m, so the dive is a matter of working the rocks and the posidonia rather than following a route — which is what makes it a first sea dive or a place to practise skills rather than a site with a profile to plan.

Look into the rock and under the edges of the seagrass: octopus sit in the holes, oblade pass over the top and wrasse work the posidonia. Nine metres and no boat means there is no time pressure on the dive, so it is also the place to sort out weighting or a new piece of kit before going out to the rock heads in the middle of the gulf.

Marine life and season

  • Octopus & cuttlefish
Month-by-month season rating for Plage du Mancinu
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Off-seasonOff-seasonOff-seasonFairGoodPrimePrimePrimePrimeGoodFairOff-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.

Questions divers ask

How deep is the dive at Plage du Mancinu?+

The Scubago entry gives a maximum depth of 9 m over 100 m² of protected water at the foot of the Propriano diving club — shallow enough for a first sea dive or a skills dive from the beach.

Sources

  1. Plage du Mancinu — Scubago (SSI)
  2. OpenStreetMap - Mancinu locality — OpenStreetMap

More dive sites in Golfe de Valinco

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A boulder mass from 35 m to 9 m, thick with large grouper

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