Réunion · France · Wall · Drift
Tombant de la Pointe au Sel
Advanced-only drop-off on the Saint-Leu coast
Area photo: Cynomana · CC BY-SA 4.0
A submarine cliff off the Pointe au Sel, on the Saint-Leu stretch of the west coast, with a face that runs from about 25 metres down to 60 metres and deepest ground measured at 71 metres. PADI's guide rates it for experienced divers and Manawa calls it the best deep dive on the island. It is worked along the wall, with pelagics crossing in the blue.
Where it is and how deep
21.2010° S, 55.2716° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
The dive is the wall itself. The face begins at about 25 metres and falls away to 60 metres, so the descent goes straight onto the top of the drop-off and the profile is set by how deep the guide takes the group rather than by any route across a reef. Below the working depth the rock keeps going: the deepest ground here has been measured at 71 metres, which is why both guides that cover the site keep it away from newly certified divers.
Along the face you are watching two things at once, the wall on one shoulder and open water on the other. Tuna and barracuda come through in the blue, and the sightings logged for the site also include sharks, whales, dolphins and turtles. Because the shallowest part of the cliff is already at 25 metres, bottom time is short: the dive is planned as a pass along the drop-off, with the ascent run back up over the top of the wall.
The two published descriptions of the site stop at different depths, 60 metres for the face and 71 metres for the ground below it, so treat the numbers as a range and agree a hard maximum and a turn point in the briefing rather than working them out on the wall. There is no shallow ground to fall back on either: the top of the drop-off, at 25 metres, is the shallowest part of the dive until you come back up over it.
Marine life and season
- Whales
- Dolphins
- Sea turtles
- Tuna
- Barracuda
| 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.
Know before you go
- The top of the wall is already at 25 metres and the rock runs to 71 metres, so depth creeps up on you: fix a hard maximum before you drop and watch gas against no-decompression time.
Questions divers ask
How deep is the Tombant de la Pointe au Sel?+
The wall runs from about 25 metres down to 60 metres, and the deepest ground below it has been measured at 71 metres. Dives are planned on the upper part of the face, and the depth is the reason the site is limited to experienced divers.
Can beginners dive the Pointe au Sel?+
No. PADI's site guide limits it to experienced divers and Manawa rates it Advanced (Level 2) only, because the shallowest part of the drop-off is already at 25 metres.
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
Wide soft-coral overhangs under table corals along a 4 km back reef
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