Marseille & the Calanques · France · Wreck · Reef
Le Planier
A shallow orange freighter, a 1928 steamer and a Bf 109
A small island out beyond Cap Croisette, ringed by reefs that break the surface and by the ships they sank. The cargo vessel Chaouen is the main dive, shallow enough at one end for an entry-level diver and running down to 33 metres at the other. A Messerschmitt Bf 109 shot down in 1944 and the steamer Dalton, wrecked on the rocks by the lighthouse in 1928, lie close by.
Also known as Île de Planier, Planier.
Where it is and how deep
43.1987° N, 5.2286° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
The Chaouen is the reason boats make the run out here. She was carrying 640 tonnes of oranges from Casablanca to Marseille when she struck the shoal known as La Pierre à la Bague on 21 February 1970, and she sank the following afternoon. Her bow stayed above the surface for about fifteen years before successive storms pulled it under; by 2010 the highest point of the wreck stood at around six metres.
That shallow top is what makes her unusual on this coast. The anchor sits at 6 metres and the wreck runs down to 33, so the dive can be cut to the certifications on the boat. The named points of interest are the anchor, the mast, the superstructures and the propeller lying out in the sand. She is one of the few wrecks in the area open to a Niveau 1 diver, and a Messerschmitt Bf 109 shot down on 7 March 1944 lies near enough to be visited on the way before finishing on the Chaouen.
The island's other wreck is much older. The Dalton, a cargo steamer launched at Stockton in 1877, ran onto the rocks near the Planier lighthouse in the small hours of a February night in 1928 while carrying lead ore from Laurion in Greece; a tribunal held her captain responsible for failing to correct course by the light. The reefs that break the surface around the island account for both ships, and for a long list before them.
The wreck
- Vessel
- Chaouen
- Type
- Cargo ship
- Length
- 90 m (295 ft)
- Built
- 1961
- Sunk
- 1970
- Cause
- Struck the La Pierre à la Bague shoal on 21 February 1970 with 640 tonnes of oranges aboard
- Lies
- Off the Planier lighthouse, highest point at about 6 m and the wreck running down to 33 m
Planier's reefs break the surface around the island and have accounted for a long list of ships: the Moroccan cargo vessel Chaouen, launched at Travemünde in 1961 for the Marseille-Casablanca citrus run and lost in 1970; the steamer Dalton, launched at Stockton in 1877 and wrecked by the lighthouse in 1928; and a Messerschmitt Bf 109 shot down over the sea on 7 March 1944. The lighthouse standing there now was built in 1947, after the previous one was destroyed in the Second World War. An inn and a dive centre operated on the island until 2004, when the regional maritime authority closed them; the buildings are still empty.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good |
Season follows Marseille & the Calanques: Boats run all year; the sea averages 13 °C (55 °F) in February and feels cold.
Know before you go
- Since the winter of 2019-2020 the Chaouen's upper section has slid 10 to 15 m and the superstructures have partly collapsed onto the sand, so older descriptions no longer match the wreck.
- Reefs break the surface all round the island — the shoal that sank the Chaouen among them — so boat work on the site needs room and care in any swell.
Photos from Le Planier
Matieu Sokolovic · Public domain
Matieu Sokolovic · Public domain
Mark Holdefehr · CC BY-SA 4.0
Dive videos
Wreck The Chaouen Marseille Planier · editemoivit on YouTube
PLONGEE LE PLANIER MARSEILLE - LE MESSERSCHMITT VISIBILITE EXCEPTIONNELLE · Gilbert Caulet on YouTube
Questions divers ask
Can beginners dive Le Planier?+
The Chaouen is one of the few wrecks in the area a Niveau 1 diver can dive, because her anchor and upper structure sit at around six metres. The wreck runs down to 33 metres, so the deep end of it is a separate dive for deeper-qualified divers.
What is there to see at Le Planier?+
The cargo ship Chaouen — anchor at 6 m, mast, superstructures and the propeller out in the sand — plus a Messerschmitt Bf 109 shot down in 1944 nearby, and the older steamer Dalton, wrecked on the rocks by the lighthouse in 1928.
Sources
- Île de Planier — Wikipedia (fr)
- Chaouen (épave) — Wikipedia (fr)
- Dalton (épave) — Wikipedia (fr)
- Le Chaouen (wreck) — OpenStreetMap / IEO-BDTopOc
Photo credits
- Black and white view of the Planier lighthouse tower rising above its stone base by peiopb from marseille, france, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- Historical hand-drawn survey plan of the Île de Planier, dated 1823-1829 by Lagarella, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
- The rocky Île de Planier seen from the sea, with its lighthouse and abandoned harbour buildings by Matieu Sokolovic, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- Looking straight up the tapered stone shaft of the Planier lighthouse against a clear blue sky by Matieu Sokolovic, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- Planier lighthouse silhouetted on the horizon at dusk, seen across open water from Marseille by Mark Holdefehr, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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