Réunion · France · Artificial reef
La Barge
A small barge on black sand, thick with fish
Area photo: Cynomana · CC BY-SA 4.0
A 10-metre barge lying at 25 metres on a bed of black sand in the Saint-Paul part of the west coast. It is a small piece of wreckage, but it works as a busy hub on otherwise open ground: tropical fish gather over it in numbers, and torpedo rays are part of what it holds. The depth keeps it inside recreational limits without being a shallow dive.
Where it is and how deep
No published position for this site — the map shows Réunion and its other sites; operators know the mooring.
The dive
The barge is a small target, 10 metres of hull sitting at 25 metres on a bed of black sand, so the dive is built around it rather than being a tour of it. You drop onto the wreckage, work its length, and then use the sand at the base, where the dark ground throws anything resting on it into relief. One circuit of a hull this size takes only part of the dive, which leaves time to go back over it slowly.
The draw is the concentration of life the structure pulls in. Tropical fish gather over the barge in numbers on ground that is otherwise flat sand, and torpedo rays, low and easy to miss against black grit, are listed alongside them as part of what the site holds. At 25 metres the no-stop time is modest, so most groups spend it in close on the barge and save the open sand for the end of the dive.
Marine life and season
- Reef fish swarms
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair |
Season follows Réunion: May–Oct is the dry season with the calmest water and humpbacks Jul–Oct; Jan–Mar is cyclone season.
Dive videos
diving La barge Reunion island 4 11 2018 · cabrolier stephane on YouTube
Les ancres de la Barge avec Glowbulles plongée - Réunion · Benjamin Gaudillat on YouTube
Questions divers ask
How deep is La Barge?+
The barge lies at 25 metres on black sand. That is inside recreational limits but deep enough to keep no-stop time short, so the dive is usually planned as a single working pass over the wreckage and the sand around it.
Sources
More dive sites in Réunion
Wreck
A 1999 scuttling on her port side, holds full of soldierfish
Cave & cavern
A ten-metre arch cresting at 20 m, its feet on the bottom at 42 m
A coral flat to 20 m, then a wall from 20 down to 40 m
Reef
A shore entry in the marine reserve, 4 m to a small drop-off
Cave & cavern
A collapsed reef cavern with easy galleries at 3 to 17 m
Pinnacle
Two basalt organ pipes 25 m tall, one pierced by a cave
Wall
Black sand to scree at 40 m, and a shy grouper at 50 m
A stepped wall dropping in two stages from 40 m to 70 m
Similar dives elsewhere
A 44 m fishing boat on sand at 30 m by Coin de Mire
A scuttled trawler at 28.5 m off Nosy Sakatia
One of Mauritius's best-regarded wrecks, in 25 m
Ruined jetty that serves as a nursery for baby fish