Golfe de Valinco · France · Pinnacle · Night
Sec du Taravu
A pinnacle awash at the surface with a 40 m drop-off on its west face
Area photo: Valinco Drone · CC BY-SA 4.0
The Sec du Taravu is a rock peak that emerges a metre above the sea, so the boat arrives on a site flush with the water. The east side is a plateau at 10 to 12 m; the west side is a drop-off running to 40 m. Grouper, moray, barracuda and dentex are all named on it, and the Scubago entry lists it as a night-dive site.
Also known as Le Sec du Tavaru.
Where it is and how deep
41.6946° N, 8.7944° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
The boat comes alongside a rock that emerges about a metre from the sea, so the site is visible before you gear up and the descent starts from the surface against solid rock. Which way you turn decides the dive: east onto the plateau at 10 to 12 m, or west over the edge of the drop-off that runs down to 40 m. The Porto-Pollo centre describes a maze of rock in between that goes to 30 m.
The Porto-Pollo centre calls the rock particularly rich in fish — grouper and moray in the cracks, barracuda over the top, dentex passing through — and the Scubago entry adds slipper lobsters and nudibranchs on it. Scubago also lists the site as a night dive, when the shallow eastern plateau gives an easy place to run the dive and an easy way back to the boat.
Marine life and season
- Groupers
- Barracuda
- 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 18 °C at the edges of that season and 23 °C at its height.
Know before you go
- The west side of the rock falls away to 40 m while the east side is only 10 to 12 m deep — agree a depth limit before you descend rather than following the wall down.
Questions divers ask
Can you night dive the Sec du Taravu?+
The Scubago entry calls it ideal for night dives. The eastern plateau at 10 to 12 m is the shallow ground on the site, well inside the depth a night dive is usually run at.
Sources
- Sec du Taravu — Scubago (SSI)
- Sites et spots de plongée - Porto Pollo (archived) — 3P Porto Pollo Plongée via Wayback Machine
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Similar dives elsewhere
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Maze-like rock stacks full of red sea fans to 40 m
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