Ustica Africa Shoal Dive
Low / Medium Difficulty – Depth 0/40 meters
Ustica Africa Shoal Dive, a complex tangle of rocks and fine sand, of tunnels and ravines that guard Roman and Byzantine anchors. The ravens are the shy guardians of these crevices, the parrotfish adorn the brightest pinnacles with their brilliant liveries.
We will begin our marine excursion by diving shortly after Cavazzi Point. It is there, a few hundred meters from the famous underwater archaeological trail of Ustica, that the Africa Shoal is found. Very wide, it is characterized by a complex system of boulders that form various inlets, caves and canyons that constitute the real peculiarity of the site. At a depth of 10 meters we will observe 3 remains of Roman and Byzantine anchors, a small submerged treasure that characterizes this seabed.
Thanks to its varied conformation, the Shoal of Africa is the ideal refuge for many species of fish. Some are rarer to see them in other sites – such as black corvines – while others are more common: parrotfish, white breams, thrushes, damsels, damselfish and groupers. It is also frequent the passage of barracudas, trevally and longlines depending on the season. After these finds, the tour will continue along a very suggestive stretch of seabed characterized by tongues of rock that create wonderful dens for various fish species. Here too, the play of light will not be lacking between rock arches and canyons that will take us to greater depths up to a sandy bottom of around 40 meters. Once we reach this depth, natural caves will allow us to find the typical shrimp of Ustica (Parapandalo), present in several submerged caves on the island. Africa Shoal is located in zone B of the Ustica Island Protected Marine Area.
The Africa Shoal is a perfect dive for any type of diver given the biological richness that we can find at all depths … from the first meters of water to higher altitudes.
DIVES
Le Terrazze sul Mare – Ustica Studio Apartments
Via Cristoforo Colombo, 90051 Ustica (Pa)
Tel: +39 0917574482 – Cell: +39 338 9066477 / 339 4294992
info@leterrazzeustica.it
The studios are rented with a short tourist lease without the provision of personal services (Article 4 of Legislative Decree 50 \ 2017).