Buceo Islas Medas septiembre 2021 - Inmersión Tascó Petit

Diving in the Medas Islands: Tascó Petit

The Tascó Petit is southernmost islet of the Medas Islands. It is a dive with multiple routes and levels from open water to dive master.

The diving in the southern islets of the marine reserve: Tascó Petit, Tascó Gros, Carall Bernat and Ferranelles is simply spectacular, perhaps one of the most beautiful areas of the Costa Brava for its rich fauna and flora.

During the proposed itinerary we can see from barracudas, gilthead breams, groupers, dentex, etc. to the more macro life with a great variety of nudibranchs on the walls and rocks of the shallower areas.

Categoria de buceo - diving activity

Summary:

  • Date & place: 12/09/2021 | Medas Islands, Mediterranean
  • Level: Advance
  • External & underwater conditions: Good | no currents
  • Duration, visibility & water Tª: 50 min | low  (5/6 m) | 20ºC
  • Max. depth & Gas: 32 meters | Nitrox 32
  • Surface time: 3h (2ª dive)

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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.

Buceo Islas Medas septiembre 2021 - Inmersión Tascó Petit

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.

Buceo Islas Medas septiembre 2021 - Inmersión 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.

Buceo Islas Medas septiembre 2021 - Inmersión Tascó Petit

Gorgonians

Buceo Islas Medas septiembre 2021 - Inmersión Tascó Petit

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.

Buceo Islas Medas septiembre 2021 - Inmersión Tascó Petit

Painted comber

Buceo Islas Medas septiembre 2021 - Inmersión Tascó Petit

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!

Buceo Islas Medas septiembre 2021 - Inmersión Tascó Petit

Barracudas school

20210912 illes.medes 0477 Diving in the Medas Islands: Tascó Petit

Between barracudas and bogues schools

Buceo Islas Medas septiembre 2021 - Inmersión Tascó Petit

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!

Buceo Islas Medas septiembre 2021 - Inmersión Tascó Petit

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.

Buceo Islas Medas septiembre 2021 - Inmersión Carall Bernat

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,

Buceo Islas Medas septiembre 2021 - Inmersión Tascó Petit

Grouper swimming calmly, near Tascó Petit

Buceo Islas Medas septiembre 2021 - Inmersión 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.

Buceo Islas Medas septiembre 2021 - Inmersión Tascó Petit

Nudibranchs cratena peregrina

Buceo Islas Medas septiembre 2021 - Inmersión Tascó Petit

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

Buceo Islas Medas septiembre 2021 - Inmersión les Ferranelles Escrivana

Hermit crab in Escribana reef

Buceo Islas Medas septiembre 2021 - Inmersión les Ferranelles Escrivana

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

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.

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