Lampedusa & Linosa · Italy · Wall
Lampione
Schools of grey sharks around a lone rock in late summer
Photo: Jeffrey Sciberras · CC BY 3.0
Lampione is the smallest island of the Pelagie archipelago, little more than a rock 9 miles west of Capo Ponente. A shallow step off its small pier ends in a wall that plunges into the blue past 40 m, with big groupers in the boulders at its foot and schools of grey sharks in late summer.
0Where it is and how deep
35.5518° N, 12.3214° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
Boats moor in front of the small pier over a bottom of 8–10 m, and the dive starts with a swim east to the edge of the step. There the step drops into the blue and becomes a sheer wall that runs past 40 m.
At the base of the wall, large boulders rest on a sandy bottom and form countless dens for white bream, moray eels and large groupers. Around August and September, schools of grey sharks are often met off the rock.
Marine life and season
- Groupers
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair | Fair |
Season follows Lampedusa & Linosa: August and September bring grey sharks to Lampione; ferry and flight options shrink in the off-season.
Dive videos
IMMERSIONE LAMPIONE 29-08-2015 SQUALI · MarinadivingLampedusa on YouTube
Questions divers ask
When are grey sharks seen at Lampione?+
Schools of grey sharks are most often met around August and September, when they are not hard to find off the rock.
Sources
- Immersioni subacquee a Lampedusa, Lampione e Linosa — Pelagos 2.0
- OpenStreetMap — OpenStreetMap contributors
Photo credits
- A small flat-topped rocky island with steep sides, seen from the open sea under a partly cloudy sky by Jeffrey Sciberras, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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