La Falconiera

A beautiful dive spot‚ known for its steep vertical reef wall‚ the Falconiera cave and the high biodiversity.

 

The dive starts from the bay of Falconiera‚ located at the foot of the promontory of Falconiera‚ not far from the port of Ustica. Here we swim over a rich seabed of mixed posidonia seagrass and rocks‚ where octopuses and moray eels are often to be seen.

Swimming through a notch in the rock formations‚ we arrive at the top of the reef wall. This riff reaches from 10m to a depth of 45m‚ where it rests on a sandy bottom. The wall is decorated colourfully by yellow cluster anemones‚ various types of sponges‚ tube worms‚ scorpion fish and nudibranchs and on the lower parts at around 30m depth by beautiful fans of gorgonians.

Following the wall in northern direction‚ exploring the coves and crevasses that are rich in marine life‚ we arrive at the Falconiera cave. This cave is an old volcanic spray hole and from its wide entrance‚ that lies at a depth range of 18m to 25m‚ the cave develops into a straight tunnel of about 30m length. At the top end lies a chamber inhabited by shrimps and a brown hake that feasts on them. The wall of the cave houses many other species‚ like crabs‚ clams and cowries attached to it and often a conger eel can be found in one of the small caverns that lie on its base.

Back in the open sea‚ the dive can be continued further in northern direction‚ arriving in the Omo Morto bay. This bay is covered with boulders that once fell from the Falconiera cliff‚ making it an interesting dive spot where among all its inlets timid fish‚ octopuses and brittle sea stars find refuge. Here we find our turn-around point and following the reef wall in southern direction at lesser depths we head back to the dive boat.

This dive site is also a perfect location for night dives‚ offering the possibility to admire many species active exclusively during the night hours. During the darker hours this location is bustling with life when crustaceans‚ cephalopods and fish get out of their hiding spots and start to hunt‚ while bioluminescence decorates the water like a clear starry sky.