El Pico

Descend directly to the ridge at 25 metres — there is no shallow warmup here. The rock runs in the same NE-SW orientation as the other Maresme barras, but at a depth that compresses your available time. Move slowly along the ridge, scanning the rock surface for nudibranchs and checking crevices for morays and lobsters. The sand flanking the ridge occasionally holds electric rays. With Nitrox and conservative planning, expect 25-30 minutes of useful bottom time before beginning your ascent.

El Pico is the Port Balis sector's deep option — one of very few Maresme sites where the ridge itself sits below 25 metres. The depth filters out most of the traffic and leaves you with a quieter dive where the macro life has had less disturbance. Sighting records show a different profile from the shallower ridges: fewer schooling fish, more solitary encounters with morays and the occasional electric ray on the sand. It is not a dive you choose for spectacle. You choose it because you want focused searching time at a depth where the rock fauna has room to exist undisturbed.