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A gap in the pine-covered hillside on Illa de Monteagudo frames a turquoise bay of the Illas Cíes.

Illas Cíes & Ría de Vigo · Spain · Reef

Illa de Monteagudo

The west face of the north island, worked to 18 m

Area photo: OomegaOILG · CC BY-SA 4.0

Monteagudo is the northern island of the Cíes, and the dive logged here is the ocean-facing west side, worked to a maximum of 18 m. The divers who run it call it an Open Water-level profile, with the caveat that ground swell can be running on that face — which is what decides whether the dive happens, rather than the depth.

Also known as Monteagudo, North Island.

Where it is and how deep

Depth profile of Illa de Monteagudo: typical dive to 18 m (to 60 ft) 18 m · Open Water30 m · Advanced40 m · Recreational limit18 mtypical dive
Depths on a shared scale to 40 m (130 ft); dashed lines mark common certification limits.

42.2315° N, 8.9048° WApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.

The dive

The profile that gets dived is the west, ocean-facing side of the island, taken to a maximum of about 18 m. That keeps the whole dive inside recreational no-stop limits and inside the depth an Open Water diver is trained for, which is how the local divers who log the site describe it. There is no route along the face, so treat it as a rock dive worked at the guide's discretion rather than a fixed circuit.

What decides the day is not the depth but the swell. The west face is the exposed one and the possibility of ground swell there is flagged up front: surge along the rock and a moving surface for the pickup. Boats work whichever side of the islands the sea allows, so a booking on the west can turn into a dive on the sheltered eastern side instead. Treat it as a fair-weather dive on a settled morning rather than something to book blind.

Marine life and season

The sources we used don't single out particular species here.

Month-by-month season rating for Illa de Monteagudo
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Off-seasonOff-seasonFairFairGoodPrimePrimePrimeGoodFairOff-seasonOff-season

Season follows Illas Cíes & Ría de Vigo: Jun–Sep is the practical season, when Atlantic swell drops and park access is easiest; winter storms close the islands to diving.

Know before you go

  • The west face is exposed and ground swell is possible there; surge along the rock and a lively surface for pickup are the practical problems, and the answer is usually to move to the sheltered side.

Dive videos

buceo faro monteagudo, islas cies · Pedro Alonso on YouTube

Sources

  1. Buceo faro Monteagudo, Islas Cíes — YouTube (Pedro Alonso)
  2. Exploraciones Subacuáticas: Buceo y Snorkel en las Islas Cíes — Visita Islas Cíes
  3. Illa de Monteagudo — OpenStreetMap

In The Logbook

More dive sites in Illas Cíes & Ría de Vigo

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14–39 m · max 50 madvanced

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