Tunnel
- Trail Conditions: Diving
The site
In the west of Scoglio del Catalano, a complex basaltic platform rises from the bottom and reaches 17m from the surface. It is characterized by vertical walls, deep fractures, piles of boulders and pebbles, and a tunnel crossing the eastern section of the relief, not easy to find and requiring particular caution.
The maximum depth is about 31m and several routes can be carried out here.
Main features
The vertical walls, the fractures, and the ravines are characterized by the presence of the organisms populating the dark areas like yellow cluster anemones, madrepores, colored sponges, and bryozoans. In the cavities, rather big groupers and shoals of brown meagers find shelter. On the bottom, at the foot of the rocks, there are specimens of seaweed Phyllariopsis brevipes. The tunnel after which the diving spot has been named is populated by organisms living in dark caves, like the golden coral shrimp and specimens of Galathea: here you can meet the leopard-spotted goby, a shy species usually living in caves. At the mouth of the tunnel, on the vault, you can observe a series of small colonies of red coral: the crossing of the tunnel is recommended only for expert divers, in order to avoid damages deriving by contacts.
