Marseille & the Calanques · France · Reef · Wall
La Pierre de Cassis
A plateau off Grand Congloué that ends in a beak
Area photo: Karim saari · CC BY 4.0
An underwater plateau at the Grand Congloué rock that slopes away towards the open sea and finishes in a beak of rock. Depths run from 20 to 40 metres, so it is a deep dive throughout rather than a site with a shallow half to fall back on.
Where it is and how deep
43.1761° N, 5.4027° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
The dive is laid out by the plateau. It begins at around 20 metres and slopes gradually away from the rock towards the open sea, so you follow it outward and downward rather than picking a wall to hang on. The far end, where the plateau narrows into the beak of rock the site is named for, is the deep point of the dive at 40 metres and the natural place to turn.
From there the whole route works in reverse and shallower, back up the slope towards the Grand Congloué with the depth coming off steadily as you go. There is no shallow section to stretch the dive out on, so gas and no-stop time are spent on the way out and the return is planned rather than improvised. The catalogue rates the site for intermediate to advanced divers, and the 40 metre end is what sets that.
Marine life and season
The sources we used don't single out particular species here.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair | Fair |
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
- La Pierre de Cassis — Scubago
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Reef
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Wreck
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