Reefwander
Aerial view over a red-brown volcano on a flat sandy island, with white houses on the shore and two more islands out at sea — La Graciosa & the Chinijo Archipelago

La Graciosa & the Chinijo Archipelago · Spain · Reef

El Bajo de las Gerardias

The world's highest concentration of Gerardia savaglia coral

Area photo: MiljenkoSuljic · CC BY-SA 4.0

El Bajo de las Gerardias is a deep boat dive off the island of Montaña Clara in the Chinijo Archipelago marine reserve, open only to expert divers. Divers with deep training come for its gerardia coral, which grows on this seabed in a density found nowhere else.

Also known as Las Gerardias, Bajo de las Gerardias.

Where it is and how deep

Depth profile of El Bajo de las Gerardias: typical dive 27–40 m (90–130 ft) 18 m · Open Water30 m · Advanced40 m · Recreational limit27 m40 mtypical dive
Depths on a shared scale to 50 m (164 ft); dashed lines mark common certification limits.

29.2858° N, 13.5435° WApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.

The dive

The whole dive is spent between 27 and 40 m on a seabed unlike most, because of how rare the species living on it are. The highest concentration of Gerardia savaglia in the world grows here, and the colonies of this coral are what the descent is for.

Marine life and season

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

Month-by-month season rating for El Bajo de las Gerardias
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
GoodGoodGoodGoodPrimePrimePrimePrimePrimePrimeGoodGood

Season follows La Graciosa & the Chinijo Archipelago: May to October brings the warmest water and the best visibility; the mild climate keeps any month a reasonable time to come.

Dive videos

🪸 ¡GERARDIAS GIGANTES A SOLO 30 METROS! 🌊🇪🇸 | Bajo de las Gerardias | La Graciosa | 26-09-2015 🤿 · Producciones Maldisub on YouTube

Sources

  1. Gerardias — ScubaGo
  2. Scuba Diving in La Graciosa — Visit La Graciosa

More dive sites in La Graciosa & the Chinijo Archipelago

A sea cave in a cliff that shelters large jacks and sargos

18–20 mintermediate

Large groupers and Canarian lobsters in a maze of rock columns

20–24 mintermediate

Raw volcanic seabed in its purest form

15–26 mintermediate

Anchors left on the seabed since the 15th and 16th centuries

15–20 mintermediate

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