Reefwander
Ferries docked at Ibiza's Estació Marítima harbour, palm trees along the quay.

Ibiza & Formentera · Spain · Seamount · Pinnacle

La Bota

A seamount from 50 m to centimetres under the surface

Area photo: Fabian Hurst · CC BY-SA 4.0

An underwater mountain about a mile northwest of Es Vedrà, rising from 50 metres to within a few centimetres of the surface — on a day with very little swell you can watch the waves break over its summit. Barracuda and tuna work the water around it, conger eels, moray eels and octopus the rock, and its position offshore makes it a weather dive.

Where it is and how deep

Depth profile of La Bota: typical dive to 50 m (to 164 ft) 18 m · Open Water30 m · Advanced40 m · Recreational limit50 mtypical dive
Depths on a shared scale to 60 m (197 ft); dashed lines mark common certification limits.

38.8798° N, 1.1793° EPublished position for this site.

The dive

La Bota is an isolated underwater mountain roughly one mile northwest of Es Vedrà. Its summit comes to within a few centimetres of the surface — on days with very little wave you can see the water breaking over the top of it — and its base is at 50 metres. The dive is therefore a matter of picking a level on the cone and staying on it rather than trying to see the whole thing at once.

Barracuda and tuna are the usual sight in the water off the rock, with groups of small fish around them; large conger eels, moray eels and octopus are in the cracks, and small crustaceans are on the rock for anyone diving it slowly. A level near the summit gives the most of the site, and the 50 metre base is past recreational depth, so it is something to leave below the dive rather than a target.

Marine life and season

  • Barracuda
  • Tuna
  • Octopus & cuttlefish
  • Macro critters
Month-by-month season rating for La Bota
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Off-seasonOff-seasonOff-seasonFairGoodGoodPrimePrimePrimeGoodFairOff-season

Season follows Ibiza & Formentera: Logged dives climb from April, peak in July and August and fall away through November; December to March activity is negligible on both islands.

Know before you go

  • The summit comes to within a few centimetres of the surface and waves break over it in even a small swell, so boat handling and time on the surface are exposed.

Sources

  1. La Bota - Scubago — Scubago

More dive sites in Ibiza & Formentera

A reserve wall to 20 m with a small arch full of life

to 20 mbeginner

A holed wall from a 5 m platform down to 30 m

5–30 mintermediate

Pinnacle

A column rising from 36 m to 5 m off Es Vedrà

5–36 madvanced

Pinnacle

A cone of rock offshore, circled between 10 and 28 m

10–28 mintermediate

A shoal from 24 m of sand up to 3 m below the surface

3–24 mintermediate

A north-coast site dived anywhere between 12 and 40 m

12–40 mintermediate

A vertical wall stepping down to 38 m off Portinatx

to 38 madvanced

Similar dives elsewhere

Seamount

Bajo de las Palomas

Cabo Tiñoso (La Azohía, Isla Plana & Puerto de Mazarrón) · Spain

A shoal topping out at 10 m with a 30 m drop and hard backlight

8–35 m · max 42 mintermediate

Seamount

Cráter de San Andrés

Cabo de Gata-Níjar · Spain

Dropping through a volcano-shaped crater to an arch full of eels

14–20 mbeginner

Seamount

Secca delle Formiche

Ischia & Procida · Italy

Volcanic pinnacles where amberjack, tuna and barracuda school

15–50 madvanced

Seamount

Secca di Punta Papa

Ponza & the Pontine Islands · Italy

A bank capping at 33 m and dropping to 58 m, with red gorgonians and a Roman anchor stock

32–58 madvanced