Palavas-les-Flots, Carnon & Villeneuve-lès-Maguelone · France · Reef
Les Éponges
A 60 m rock at 6-10 m, full of holes
Area photo: Julien Renoult · CC BY 4.0
Ten minutes out from Palavas, opposite the church at Maguelone, Les Éponges is a rock 60 m long by 15 m wide with its plateau at 6 m and scree falling to 10 m along its flanks. It is a hole-hunting dive: octopus and cuttlefish, conger and moray eels, lobster, sea cicadas, sar and damselfish are all logged on it.
Where it is and how deep
43.5019° N, 3.8944° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The run out from Palavas is ten minutes and puts you opposite the church at Maguelone. The rock is 60 m long and only about 15 m wide, with a plateau at 6 m and scree along its flanks going down to 10 m — a small site you can circle several times in a dive, which is the sensible way to dive it rather than swimming its length once and turning around.
The scree along the flanks is what makes it, with gaps between the blocks at every scale. Octopus and cuttlefish, conger and moray eels, lobster and sea cicadas, sar and damselfish are all logged on the site. Take the edges slowly rather than swimming over the top of the plateau, because the hiding places are down among the broken rock.
Marine life and season
- Octopus & cuttlefish
- Macro critters
| 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
- Les Éponges, dive site — Scubago/SSI
More dive sites in Palavas-les-Flots, Carnon & Villeneuve-lès-Maguelone
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A wide scree field at 8-14 m for slow hunting
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A hollow 12 m cistern alone on the sand at 11 m
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Fields of white gorgonians on a bank closed to fishing
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A 4-6 m bank 400 m off the beach, used for first dives
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Big overhangs and a dolmen block on an offshore bank
Similar dives elsewhere
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