Tavolara & La Maddalena · Italy · Pinnacle · Pelagic & blue water
Secca del Papa
A gorgonian-clad pinnacle topping out at 15 m in open blue
Photo: Roberto Mura · CC BY-SA 3.0
The pride of the Tavolara marine protected area, this is the shallower of two pinnacles rising out of the open blue. Its top lies at 15 m and the shoal drops to 45 m, and yellow and red gorgonians, groupers, dentex and the odd sunfish draw divers out to it.
Also known as Secca del Papa 1, Papa 1.
Where it is and how deep
40.9159° N, 9.7450° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The boat ties onto the mooring buoy that serves this first and shallower of the two parts of the shoal. The descent reaches the top of the pinnacle at 15 m, and from there the spires covered in yellow and red gorgonians fall away towards 45 m, with the series of pinnacles running on to 56 m.
Surrounded by blue water, the shoal is a meeting point for many species: groupers, corb, dentex, white sea bream and scorpionfish live on it, amberjack pass by, and sunfish and eagle rays are among the sightings. A sandy channel separates it from the second, deeper pinnacle.
Marine life and season
- Groupers
- Mola mola
- Eagle rays
- Trevally & jacks
| 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 Tavolara & La Maddalena: April to October is the main season; summer brings the clearest water, while winter wind and current cut visibility.
Dive videos
Immersione alla secca del papa Tavolara con Sardiniadivers.com AMP TAVOLARA · carlo sanna on YouTube
Questions divers ask
Can Secca del Papa be dived without a dive centre?+
No. The shoal lies in Zone B of the Tavolara and Punta Coda Cavallo marine protected area, where diving is allowed only with authorised centres, and Secca del Papa is open only to authorised divers.
Sources
- Secca del Papa dive site — ScubaGo
- 9 località italiane per immersioni — spiagge.it
- Area Marina Protetta — tavolaradiving.it
- Le 10 migliori immersioni in Italia — scubaportal.it
- Secca del Papa 2 — PADI
Photo credits
- Pale limestone cliffs of Tavolara seen from the summit, with turquoise shallows, a sand spit and the Sardinian coast below. by Roberto Mura, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
More dive sites in Tavolara & La Maddalena
A sheltered lighthouse cove with gorgonians below
Reef
A steep drop to 40 m from an anchorage off the Caprera Fjord
A south-running swim along the Caprera coast past a rockslide
Pinnacle
Twin granite spires breaking the surface, with an arch at 26 m
A full circuit of an offshore islet when the current eases
A large diesel engine sheltering congers and morays
A very wide shoal near Tahiti beach, with a buoy on 10 m
A buoyed reef from 6 m that can be dived as a drift
Similar dives elsewhere
Pinnacle
Moldinho
Azores · Portugal
A Corvo reef rising from deep water almost to the surface
An outcropping rock with an Open Water north side and a ridge sinking to 50 m
Pinnacle
Deli Mehmet
Ayvalık & Cunda Islands · Turkey
Twin hills ringed with red coral between Kız Adası and Burhaniye
A rock head at 13 m dropping abruptly to sand at 45 m