DIVING AT LAVEZZI ISLANDS: GROTES DE VECCU
We get up early to go to Bonifaccio to dive in the Lavezzi Islands which are said to be one of the most beautiful places to dive in France, we are very excited!
We arrived at Bonifacio Plongee diving club, which is located in the center of town without the possibility of free parking nearby, so we park for a moment at the gas station, we leave the equipment at the club and go to park. Further up the road, past a campsite, we find a free mini parking lot where you can leave your car (in the early hours of the morning there was only one other car parked) and it takes approximately 8 minutes walk from the diving center (see detail below).
Bonifaccio Plongee diving club
Location and indications of the small free parking that we find up on the road
We park and go back to the club, change ourselves, prepare the equipment and bottles and leave them in a cart that the club itself takes to the ship and we walk to the port.
It’s very windy, but they still decide to go out. The captain Emilie of our zodiac goes very very fast and the trip to Lavezzi Islands, of about 40 minutes, is long and heavy with this swell and the constant boats having to hold ourserlves very tight to not fly away.
Finally we reach the dive point, located to the lee of the island.
Lavezzi Islands
Islas Lavezzi, just before diving starts
Diving without currents in a small area of rocks with caves and holes in the rocks, the anchor is at a depth of about 7 meters and the base of the blocks are at about 16m.
Quiet immersion, we see groupers, scorpora fish and all the typical ones we can find here. As in the previous days, we see a lot of posidonea on the rock bottom.
Grouper facing up
Scorpora fish at the bottom
The most interesting thing about this dive is to go under the ‘holes’ in the rocks and see the roofs upholstered with yellow and orange anemones.
Ceilings in caves upholstered of anemones
We go around the anchor and after 45 minutes we go up. Once up, they tell us that the next dive is canceled since the wind conditions have worsened and we have to go back now.
And indeed, the return in the zodiac is even worse than the outward journey; The wind has risen and the captain is going very fast, constantly crashing and breaking against the waves with the bad luck that already arriving at port, in one of the waves Edu hits his knee against a metal bar located in front of him (the bottle clamp) and it hurts him a bit.
What a bad luck! The next day we had to dive here too but due to the strong wind it will not be possible,.. so we will need to come back another time!
At the club we take photos of the dive sites around Bonifaccio and Lavezzi Islands:
Diving sites at Lavezzi Islands
Diving sites nearby Bonifaccio area
More information about Bonifaccio Plongee diving club:
- Club twinned with Kallister club (at Palombaggia beach)
- There is no place to park your car for free (either you park outside the town or in a paid car park in the center of Bonifaccio)
- The equipment can be cleaned with fresh water and has an open shower to wash off the salt. No changing rooms
- Link to website
- We recommend in the area:
- Visit the beautiful city of Bonifaccio, known for its white cliffs.
- Beaches in the natural surroundings, where you can walk and snorkel.
For more information on other Corsican dive sites, read our DIVING GUIDE IN CORSICA
