Marettimo

SECCA DEL CRETAZZO

Rock-dwelling fish

General Description

The descent begins from the top of the south-east side of the shoal, at about 200 m from the coast. After reaching the edge of the shoal top, continue to descend southward for 15 m along the short sloping wall, which is characterised by alternating boulders from a landslide and steeper segments, until you reach the sandy seabed with isolated rocks. Leaving the rock wall on the right and swimming over the seabed of mixed sand and rock, you will come to a low cave with a sandy bottom (about 3 m wide and 7 m deep), which must be traversed with a flashlight and using extreme caution. Afterwards, follow the high rocky ridge, which begins at the uppermost part of the shoal and descends south-west, until you reach the sandy seabed. On this side of the shoal, at the depth of 20 m, there is a greater number of collapsed tracts. When you have finished following the rocky ridge, you can begin your ascent by swimming over the collapsed tract. 

Naturalistic Features

Although the vegetation on the sandy seabed mainly consists of sea grass, there is also peacock’s tail and Cystoseira sp. algae, which completely cover the isolated rocks in the more superficial and well-lit areas. While schools of chromis chromis and other gregarious species can often be found along the wall near the bottom, seabream are also commonly encountered among the boulders of the landslide. Numerous noble pen shell or fan mussel specimens can be found at the mouth of the cave. The large boulders at the depth of 20 m are home to groupers, seabream, and brown meagres, while various species of rock-dwelling fish can also be found in the cracks and small caves. 

area

Aegadian Islands

itinerary

SECCA DEL CRETAZZO

position

37° 56' 45,5'' longitude - 12° 3' 11,6'' latitude

license

PADI - advanced | FIPSAS - second level AR | FIPSAS - third level AR | SSI - advanced

Type of route

Cliff wall | Shallows | Rock | Sand | Grotto

dive start

only from a boat

Maximum depth

30

path length

150-200

nature of the bottom

Posidonia | Sand | Rock

Current probability

average

orientation

Easy

level of difficulty

Easy

Type of interest

Naturalistic

Flora and fauna

Posidonia | Peyssonnelia Red Alga | Other flora | Octopus | Shellfishes | Sponges

route subject to authorization

yes

itinerary illustration

comments
Gallery
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