More Detailed information and specific itineraries in our:
Basic and advanced diving guide in the Medas Islands, coming soon!
Diving in the Medas Islands: Tascó Petit y Tascons reef
The Tascó Petit is the smallest of the three islets that form the Tascons, south of the Medas Islands, which together with the other two islets in this area (Ferranelles) make up one of the most beautiful places to dive in the Costa Brava. Undoubtedly a paradise for all divers and sea lovers.
The proposed itinerary is a diving route for experienced divers only, with a maximum depth of -32 m, it requires good orientation and experience in deep diving.
In this itinerary we will visit the Tascons Reef (Barra de Tascons), submerged rock canyons to the south of Tascó Petit. With spectacular vertical walls ranging from about -30 to beyond -40 meters deep.
These reefs with corals and gorgonians shelter a lot of underwater life. It is also a good place to see pelagics such as barracudas, eagles rays, and some tuna if we are lucky.
Tascó Petit Dive itinerary
After our fantastic dive in Carall Bernat this morning, we repeat the south sector. And that’s fine with us, this area is always full of life.
So after lunch and a little rest, we prepare the diving gear, leave it in the les Illes diving Center van and go to l’Estartit marina.
Port of l’Estartit, on board the boats of the Les Illes diving center.
Although this dive can be deep (up to -45 meters) we decide to take Nitrox and not go deeper than -32 meters, to be able to stay longer at this depth and thus avoid going into deco too early.
Once on the boat, we get ready and in about 10 minutes we arrive at the buoy of this afternoon’s dive, the Tascó Petit.
Landscape on the ridge at the start of the Tascons reef
We go down along the mooring line directly to the seabed at -30/-32 meters and continue following an incipient gorgonian-covered wall. This wall descends in a southerly direction to -45 m depth.
We stay above -30 meters and continue in a south-easterly direction on the crest of the first part of the Tascons reef.
Gorgonians
Gorgonians
The gorgonians in this area are very beautiful. Although it’s a pity because today we don’t have any good visibility. Despite this, we can see a lot of action: moray eels sticking their heads out, three tailed fish, groupers, cows cabrillas,….
We continue along the ridge at the beginning of reef, always in a south-east direction, enjoying this rocky landscape with gorgonians and many fish.
Painted comber
Group of swallowtail seaperch, with inquisitive grouper behind
Y así vamos avanzando por la cresta, hasta llegar a la punta de esta primera barra, donde el acantilado baja en picado.
En este punto vemos un banco de barracudas muy numeroso a la caza de pequeños peces bogas, que además nos pasan muy cerca. ¡Qué gran espectáculo!
And so we continue along the ridge, until we reach the tip of this first part of the reef, where the cliff descends steeply.
At this point we see a very big school of barracudas hunting for small bogue fish, which also pass very close to us. What a great spectacle!
Barracudas school
Between barracudas and bogues schools
Barracuda
After contemplating these beautiful fish, as we did this morning in Carall Bernat, we turn around and go back a bit the way we came.
At this point, we have two options:
Go back the way we came and go to explore the large rocks with gorgonians that are about -17 m on the southeast side of Tascó Petit and finish ascending the walls of the same islet, or take a northeasterly direction (towards Carall Bernat) to reach the second cliff of the Tascons reef.
We opted for the second option. This option requires high orientation and more when there is not much visibility as it was the case.
You will find all the courses of the Tascons reef explained in detail in the following link:
More Detailed information and specific itineraries in our:
Basic and advanced diving guide in the Medas Islands, coming soon!
White gorgonians during the dive
Así pues tomamos rumbo nordeste en dirección la segunda Barra de Tascons. Aquí tenemos un poco más de buena visibilidad. Y que grata sorpresa, justo aquí vemos 3 águilas. ¡Que bonitas son!
Les gusta este tipo de suelo arenoso, con alguna roca. Creemos que esta zona es muy buena, de las mejores en la Costa Brava, para intentar ver águilas marinas.
La prominente cabeza de las águilas marinas y sus ‘alas’ puntiagudas las diferencian de las pastinacas o rayas. Posee un aguijón venenoso en la cola.
So we head northeast towards the second part of Tascons reef. Here we have a little more good visibility. And what a pleasant surprise, right here we see 3 eagles rays, how beautiful they are!
They like this type of sandy soil, with some rocks. We think this is a very good area, one of the best on the Costa Brava, to try to see eagles rays.
The prominent head of the sea eagles and their pointed ‘wings’ differentiate them from stingrays. They both have a venomous sting on their tail. Although none of them are dangerous if not harassed.
Eagle ray in Tascons reef
Y ya vamos de vuelta, por encima de la segunda barra de Tascons, en dirección el Tascó Petit, ya a menos profundidad, donde vemos más meros, doradas, cabrachos,..
And now we are on our way back, heading northwest, towards the Tascó Petit, already at a shallower depth, where we see more groupers, gilthead breams, scorpion fish,…
Grouper swimming calmly, near Tascó Petit
Red corpionfish hiding in a hole in the rocks
To finish the dive and make the safety stop, we will explore the shallow wall of Tascó Petit, where we see many nudibranchs, such as violet flabellina and cratena peregrina.
These species of nudibranchs, flabellina and cratena, are very common and easy to observe at depths around -7 to -12 meters. They feed on hydrozoans and are very beautiful. They are quite popular among divers and “macro” photography enthusiasts.
Nudibranchs cratena peregrina
Nudibranchs cratena peregrina
And through this shallower area, exploring the macro life, we finish the dive. We return to the buoy and back to the boat.
Dive with very varied landscapes; from cliffs and walls with gorgonians, to rocky and sandy seabeds! Very beautiful area, full of life and little places, for all levels and tastes.
A singular and unique dive site, that will not leave any diver indifferent, in the marine reserve of the Medas Islands.
Other possibilities
Tascó Petit open water itinerary
Without having to go down to more than 20/25 meters, we can go down the buoy and go east, towards the Carall Bernat, staying between the Tascó Petit and Carall Bernat.
This area with rocky bottom and gorgonian is very rich in life and especially in large groupers. To finish the dive we can explore the walls of Tascó Petit in search of macro life.
Escribana reef
Hermit crab in Escribana reef
Scorpora, at Escribana reef
Located between Tascó Petit and les Ferranelles, there is the ‘Escribana reef‘.
Formed by three rocky patches ranging from -20 to -35 meters deep, where groupers, scorpion fish, moray eels, moray eels, scorpion fish, etc. frequent. We will have the chance to see eagles rays and a lot of life hidden in the grooves.
This tour requires experience in deep dives and good orientation. We explain in detail this route in our Medas Islands Diving Guide, link below:
More Detailed information and specific itineraries in our:
Basic and advanced diving guide in the Medas Islands, coming soon!
Other dives in the Medas Islands
- El Dofí
- Salpatxot
- Carall Bernat
- Tascó Petit
- Pedra de Déu
- La Vaca
- Pota del Llop
- Tascó Gros
- Embarcador del Francès
- Les Ferranelles
You can also consult more information about diving in the marine reserve in our Guide to the best dives in the Medes Islands.
Our diving center in l’Estartit is Les Illes, for its service and personal attention, with more than 35 years of experience in the diving sector, making us enjoy our dives in the Medes Islands.
