Tarifa & the Strait of Gibraltar · Spain · Reef
Punta Marroquí de Levante
Roman grinding stones and amphorae at the foot of a 40 m point
Area photo: Karan Jain from Washington, DC, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0
Punta Marroquí de Levante is the southernmost dive point on the Mediterranean face of Isla de las Palomas, and a deep one: 14 to 40 m. Roman grinding stones and wreck remains, amphorae among them, lie at the base of the dive. Morays and conger eels hold in the rock, with groupers, meagre and amberjack passing. León Marino rates it for advanced and expert divers only.
Also known as Punta Marroquí.
Where it is and how deep
35.9997° N, 5.6092° WPublished position for this site.
The dive
The point is the southern tip of the island's Levante side — Scubago calls it the southernmost diving point in the Mediterranean sector of Tarifa. León Marino gives the profile as 14 to 40 m, which puts the deepest part of it at the limit of recreational diving and makes gas and no-stop time, rather than anything on the bottom, the governing constraints of the plan.
Fish life here is rock life: schooling fish, octopus, crustaceans, nudibranchs, electric rays, snapper and dentex through the broken ground, morays and conger eels back in the holes, and groupers, meagre and amberjack showing up occasionally out in the blue. At the foot of the dive the bottom carries worked stone and pottery rather than reef — look at it, photograph it, and leave it exactly where it lies.
Background
The southern tip of the island has been a landmark and a hazard for as long as ships have used the strait, and the seabed shows it. León Marino records grinding stones and the remains of Roman wrecks at the base of the dive, including amphorae from the first centuries AD, and the catalogue notes iron from a small, much later shipwreck lying on the bottom alongside them.
Marine life and season
- Macro critters
- Groupers
- Stingrays
- Trevally & jacks
- Reef fish swarms
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Fair | Fair |
Season follows Tarifa & the Strait of Gibraltar: August to October holds the warmest water; visibility does not track it, and the strait's funnelled Levante and Poniente winds can stop boats in any month.
Know before you go
- The iron remains of a small shipwreck lie on the bottom here; the catalogue warns divers to watch for them at the deep end of the dive.
- YellowSub warns that the currents over Punta Marroquí are often quite strong, and rates the point an advanced dive for that reason.
Sources
- Punta Marroquí de Levante — Scubago
- Punta Marroquí de Levante — León Marino Buceo Tarifa
- Punta Marroqui — YellowSub Tarifa
More dive sites in Tarifa & the Strait of Gibraltar
Reef
A grotto rock at 5–14 m that shelters lobsters and rays
Wall
Sand pools at 8 m under a wall worked from 15 up to 9 m
Wreck
Three boilers still standing in an early-1900s wreck at 8–20 m
Wreck
A steamer on its side under gorgonian growth, at 18–31 m
Wreck
An upright steamer at 28 m with rudder and propeller visible
Wreck
An 1856 steamship broken across the bottom from 22 m to 30 m
Reef
Shore-accessible rock from 0 to 18 m over a Phoenician port
Anchors from several centuries along a 14–35 m rock run
Similar dives elsewhere
Reef
Baixa do Espelho
Azores · Portugal
A volcanic arch to swim through on a reef topping out at 7 m
Amphitheatre reef in the underwater park, 10–24 m
A platform at 25 m on the north side before the drop to 40 m
A false ceiling right around a 10 m shoal off Corralejo