Little Rocks of Zanca

As the name indicates, the small rocks are a group of semi-emerged rocks located offshore from Cape Zanca, just past S. Andrea.

We are at the westernmost point of Elba Island, directly facing Corsica. Here the currents are often very strong and this, although it represents a difficulty when diving, creates an optimal habitat for numerous marine organisms.

For this reason, this dive site is one of the most renowned on the entire island and deserves at least two dives to be fully explored.

The first, decidedly demanding, begins on the outer side of the largest emerged rock. We are on a boulder drop-off where large rocks, resting against each other, create ideal shelters for groupers, stingrays and large scorpionfish, as well as suggestive swim-through passages for divers.

A small ledge marks the end of the drop-off and the beginning of the most spectacular part of this dive: a rocky and sandy slope that drops steeply from 20 to beyond 40 meters. We “launch” ourselves down this slope and shortly after we spot the first lobster antennae and, above all, the first fans of red gorgonians (Paramuricea clavata), which soon become increasingly dense and of impressive size (over one meter in diameter).

The wall is very long, impossible to cover entirely in a single dive, so about halfway along we begin to ascend, looking for a narrow canyon that will lead us to a plateau at around 20 meters, among the various semi-emerged rocks that can be seen when looking towards the surface. In this area a large resident school of barracuda lives, and hunting dentex are often encountered, but the most impressive part is the route that takes us back to the boat: a succession of canyons, tunnels between rocks, arches and dark crevices, all colonized by sponges, sea daisies (Parazoanthus), nudibranchs of every shape and color, small lobsters, groupers and conger eels… it is a dive not to be missed!