Marseille & the Calanques, the area around La Grotte à Perez

Marseille & the Calanques · France · Cave & cavern · Wall

La Grotte à Perez

A cave-cathedral above a wall that drops to 40 m

Area photo: Karim saari · CC BY 4.0

A drop to 40 metres with a small plateau at around 30, and above it a cave the size of a cathedral whose mouth runs from 25 metres up to 14 and reaches about ten metres back into the rock. The cave and the drop-off make two halves of one dive, deep first and shallow after.

Also known as Grotte à Perez.

Where it is and how deep

Depth profile of La Grotte à Perez: typical dive 14–40 m (46–130 ft) 18 m · Open Water30 m · Advanced40 m · Recreational limit14 m40 mtypical dive
Depths on a shared scale to 50 m (164 ft); dashed lines mark common certification limits.

43.1864° N, 5.3916° EPublished position for this site.

The dive

Go deep first. The rock falls away to a maximum of 40 metres, with a small plateau at around 30 that gives you somewhere to level off and take stock before turning back up. That lower section is short by necessity, and the plan should have you leaving it while there is still plenty of gas and no-stop time for the second half of the dive above.

The cave is that second half. Its opening runs from about 25 metres up to 14, tall enough that the catalogue calls it a cave-cathedral, and it advances roughly ten metres into the rock, so it is a cavern you look into and move through rather than a passage you follow. Coming out at the shallow end of the mouth puts you at 14 metres, which is a convenient depth to start the ascent from.

Marine life and season

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

Month-by-month season rating for La Grotte à Perez
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
FairFairFairGoodGoodPrimePrimePrimePrimeGoodFairFair

Season follows Marseille & the Calanques: Jun–Sep is the main season; the mistral funnels down the Rhône valley and closes the offshore islands in any month.

Sources

  1. La Grotte à Perez — Scubago

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