We continue to make you discover diving places that you may never have thought of, on our coasts: this time we are heading for Canet en Roussillon, with the Aquatile center, in the heart of the new marine natural park of Le Gulf of Lion, a stone's throw from the Cerbère Banyuls reserve, just over an hour from the Spanish coast.
AT THE HEART OF PROTECTED SPACES
Since the official creation of Marine Natural Park of the Gulf of Lion last october, the third French marine natural park and the first in the Mediterranean, Canet en Roussillon is located in the heart of a protected area. Some dive sites are very close, around 15 minutes of navigation, near Torreilles or Saint Cyprien. “But most of the time, explains Karine of the Aquatile center, we go to the Rocky Coast, it takes us 20 minutes to reach Collioure and 35 minutes to reach the Nature Reserve where we spend the day. In 1h10 we are in Spain! "
BETWEEN NUDIBRANCHES AND GARDEN GARDENS
And if the area is protected, it is because it displays precious biodiversity. Between rocks, sand, and coralligenous, species abound, from tiny nudibranchs particularly abundant in the region, to gardens of white gorgonians, through the peaceful mostelles sheltered under the multicolored walls. "The faults, says Karine, are home to brittle stars, shrimps and conger eels, the coralligenous spreads over the entire coast from the first few meters, the dives are therefore accessible at all levels, with thousands of surprises ...".
EVERYTHING CAN CHANGE IN A DAY!
In these particularly rich waters, bubbling with life, visibility is reduced on certain days. But, and this is one of the peculiarities of the region, everything can change during the day! "The visibility, explains Karine, can then go from 1 to 30 meters, it will have been enough for a current, a rainstorm, a sudden easterly, or tramontane, some elements disturb, others clean, our sea is alive! Everything can change in a day, it's magic! In winter, the temperature remains at 12 ° at the bottom, can reach in summer 23 ° on the surface. Currents are low at most dive sites, but can be notable on wrecks.
A THIRTY SITES, AND SOME MUSTS
- The Moulade: “At the foot of Collioure, an ideal orienteering course to learn not to get lost… A sand corridor leading to a fault as if carved by man, exposing one of the most beautiful walls of our Coast. I would be tempted to say that there are all the Mediterranean sponges together in this fault! Be careful, however, to control your buoyancy, the passage is narrow… The ideal route is to finish here after having first discovered the coralligenous potatoes scattered everywhere around which conceal an insane amount of nudibranchs of all kinds. Little lovers love this dive! "
- Cape Big: "The diving that sums up our environment ... starting from a small dry area around which families of fish have taken up residence, it is the regular meeting point with a sunfish that has forgotten to migrate, a soothing exploration between sand , rock, coralligenous and posidonia. The ideal dive site for the photographer, perfect lighting effects but the great dilemma persists here, macro or wide angles? The wide angle for the hippocampus is always quite unbearable! And on this site the chances of meeting them are quite high… ”
- Cap l'Abeille: “In the heart of our reserve, rivers of fish, waterfalls of sars, oblade carpets… the day in the reserve with two dives on the program is a great moment! Between groupers and corbs, we sail with a happy heart… ”
ON THE ROUTE OF THE EPAVES
The region has some remarkable wrecks, and Aquatile organizes from time to time, with Patrice Strazzera, weekends entirely dedicated to their discovery. Two of them, the Alice Robert, and the Pythéas, allow the most seasoned for the first, and beginners for the second, to taste the magic of wrecks. The Alice Robert, known as the Bananier for close friends, is a fruiter cargo ship built in 1934. On October 4, 1939, she was requisitioned, armed with two 90mm guns and assigned to the Colonial Lines. On December 14, 1942 under the name of capture of Frida1 it will become the property of the Reich and will be transformed into a fast escort to be able to fight against the allied aviation and submarines. The aft mast is removed and the banana tree will be renamed the SG11. On June 2, 1944, SG11 and SG 21 left Port Vendres for an anti-submarine patrol. The British submarine Ultor sighted the convoy and fired its last three torpedoes from a distance of two kilometers. It is 8:36 am… Hit from behind, Alice Robert has since been lying 47 m deep, 5 miles from the coast.
THE REMAINS OF THE PYTHÉAS TO BEGIN
“This wreck, explains Karine, is 115 years old and is accessible from the first level of diving! The love for wrecks could well be born here… Built in 1856 in London, the Pythéas, three 50 m steam masts, first sailed for the Phocean Navigation Company Altaras, Caune & Cie, for which he made connections between Marseille and Algeria. In 1894, it passed into the hands of the small Marseille company Louis Castaldi & Fils, and made the route Marseille, Port-La-Nouvelle, Port Vendres. October 19, 1897, with a cargo of 170 tons of goods from Marseille , the Pythéas is heading towards Port Vendres in thick fog. The ship's captain is worried, it is 11 a.m. and the crew cannot see the lighthouse. The steam slows down, but while the sounder is still 9 fathoms, a sinister crackle is heard, tearing the heavy silence. The port is not far, the ship's whistles attract the two pilots of the port, who immediately alert the emergency services. At around 8:30 am, the stern of the Pythéas tilted and the whole boat collapsed. Only the front comes out of the water, as if to climb the cliff. Most of the cargo will be recovered by three divers from Marseille before a strong Tramontana finishes sinking the ship. Today there is not much left of this ship, a few frames, the boiler, the anchors as well as some debris of the bow. "
MINIS-SAFARIS TO EVOLVE FURTHER
Since last year, aquatile has set up mini-safaris, over three or four days, to descend a little further. "Arrived at the reserve of Banyuls-Cerbère, at the gates of Spain, one can only wonder how it is behind Cape Town", explains Karine. “And François having worked in Puerto de la Selva, knowing the sites on the other side of the border, the step was quickly taken. The idea trotted and then we talked to our regulars and we said to ourselves “come on, let's try” and we loved it! “Over three or four days, by staying in small hotels, we multiply the dives that we could not do during the day. The escape is total, we are already in the adventure. And Karine and François recreate the “cruising spirit” that they are particularly fond of: each year, they accompany some of their clients to share in the Maldives, where they worked for several years, a discovery cruise.
IN AN ECO-RESPONSIBLE CENTER
Le Aquatile Center is the Longitude 181 ambassador center, and also appears in the guide to eco-responsible centers that we presented to you in our last issue. “The Responsible Diver Charter is an ideal tool for us,” says Karine, “it supports our words and as such must imperatively be known from the first level of diving. It is widely distributed at Aquatile because it is included in the logbook offered to all divers in training or visiting our center! »Aquatile is also the first center in France to have obtained the PADI green Star Award! It is also a partner of the Banyuls Cerbère Nature Reserve, and contributes to the participatory science program Cybelle Méditerranée. “And apart from all the small daily actions, explains Karine, we regularly carry out awareness-raising actions, we created a nice little clip on the subject for the New Year:“ a gesture plus a gesture and it's my sea that feel better".
"We are, concludes Karine, only guests underwater"
Text: Isabelle Croizeau
Photos: Aquatile
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Indeed Thierry…! I see that you always have good ideas ...
I'm not sure it's excellent… and you won't even be able to smoke them…!