Diving Provence

The Mediterranean coast of Provence offers a very different kind of diving from the tropical reefs featured elsewhere on ReefColors. Rocky coastlines, steep walls, caves, Posidonia meadows, and coralligenous communities provide habitats for a remarkably diverse Mediterranean marine life.

Some of my dives were around Saint-Tropez, while others took me to the Îles d'Hyères, in particular Port-Cros and Porquerolles. The islands are part of the Port-Cros National Park, one of the oldest protected marine areas in the Mediterranean. The long-term protection is particularly noticeable underwater: large brown groupers, moray eels, conger eels, octopuses, barracudas, wrasses, breams, and numerous smaller invertebrates can be encountered. Rocky walls and overhangs are covered with sponges, coralline algae and other sessile organisms, while Posidonia meadows occupy the shallower areas.

Port-Cros is probably the most interesting area I visited. The small rocky Îlot de la Gabinière and the southern coast of the island are particularly well known for their steep underwater formations and abundant fish life. Currents can occur, and some sites reach considerable depths. Porquerolles offers a somewhat different combination of rocky reefs, walls and deeper sites, as well as several famous wrecks such as the Donator and Le Grec.

Diving in the protected marine core areas of Port-Cros and Porquerolles is regulated and currently requires an individual authorization, with dives recorded through the park's system. The regulations are intended to limit the impact of diving and protect the particularly sensitive marine habitats.