Port-Cros & Îles d'Hyères · France · Reef
La Gabinière Ouest
Ridges to 40 m on the sheltered side of the islet
Area photo: Waielbi · CC BY-SA 3.0
The western side of the Gabinière islet off Port-Cros, dived as a slope of large rocky screes that ends to the south in ridges reaching 40 m. It is the side to be on when the easterly wind blows, and there are four mooring buoys on the site. The fish list is the Port-Cros one held in numbers: grouper, seabream, bream, corb, octopus and moray eel.
Where it is and how deep
42.9888° N, 6.3940° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
Boats pick up one of the four buoys on the western face of the islet, which is the side to be on when the easterly wind is up. The dive alternates across large rocky screes — broken boulder ground rather than one continuous wall — and finishes to the south in ridges that run down to 40 m, the deepest ground on the site.
Fish are the reason to come. Grouper are here in large numbers, along with seabream, bream, corb, octopus and moray eels working the gaps in the boulders. In May and June there is a chance of a sunfish over the site, sometimes more than one. Plan the depth honestly: the southern ridges take you to 40 m, so take them first and spend the rest of the dive shallowing up over the scree.
Marine life and season
- Groupers
- Octopus & cuttlefish
- Mola mola
| 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 Port-Cros & Îles d'Hyères: Jun–Sep is the main season with the warmest water; mistral winds close the exposed wreck sites in any month.
Questions divers ask
How deep is La Gabinière Ouest?+
The site runs from shallow boulder scree down to ridges at 40 m at its southern end, so the full profile is a deep dive rather than an Open Water one.
When can you see sunfish at La Gabinière Ouest?+
May and June are the months given for sunfish here, when one or more may be seen over the site. They are a chance sighting, not a reliable one.
Sources
- La Gabinière Ouest — Scubago
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