Palavas-les-Flots, Carnon & Villeneuve-lès-Maguelone · France · Reef
Le Roc / La Vallée Blanche
A plateau of faults and posidonia beside a white-sand valley
Area photo: Julien Renoult · CC BY 4.0
The broad plateau facing Carnon, dived between 7 and 14 m, mixing faults, rocky scree and posidonia beds in a single immersion. Along its west face, La Vallée Blanche is a long sheltering fault beside a wide stretch of white sand, where a stingray sometimes rests and moray eels use the dark cavities of the scree that borders it.
Also known as Le Roc, La Vallée Blanche.
Where it is and how deep
43.5220° N, 3.9650° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
Le Roc is the broadest piece of ground off Carnon, and one dive takes in most of its variety: faults to swim along, rocky scree full of hiding places and open plateau in the light, between 8 and 14 m. Posidonia beds border the site and work as a natural nursery, so there is small life over the shallow parts as well as in the rock.
La Vallée Blanche is the west face, dived between 7 and 10 m: a long protective fault running alongside a wide expanse of white sand. The contrast is the point — dark, holed rock on one side, clean pale bottom on the other, which lifts the light on a coast that rarely has much of it. A stingray will occasionally be resting on the sand, discreet enough to swim past.
In the scree bordering the sand, Mediterranean moray eels take the dark cavities. Damselfish form clouds over the rocky relief, salema graze the plateau, rainbow wrasse work along the fault and octopus make their lairs in the scree. Neither half of the site is demanding: Plongée Carnon asks for Niveau 1 (PE20) or above on Le Roc and lists the Vallée Blanche side as all levels, baptism dives included.
Marine life and season
- Stingrays
- Octopus & cuttlefish
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair | Fair |
Season follows Palavas-les-Flots, Carnon & Villeneuve-lès-Maguelone: Clubs dive year-round, but logged visibility sits near 2 m and the sea at 10-12 °C from January to March; one club runs seven days a week in July and August.
Sources
- Plongée au Roc — Plongée Carnon
- Plongée à La Vallée Blanche — Plongée Carnon
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