Ferranelles

A chain of rocks rather than a single pinnacle. Les Ferranelles stretches from its small island between Tascó Petit and Meda Gran, giving the dive a linear character unlike any circumnavigation in the Medes. The standard route follows the chain at 8-23 metres over blocks thick with gorgonians, where groupers appear at every turn. Some are territorial. One guide describes an "alpha" grouper that bit a diver at chest height and had to be faced down. Barracudas work the gaps between rocks when current pushes through, hunting bogas in tight formations. Below 22 metres on the deep side, three separate reef barriers step down to the Escrivana zone, where the final wall drops to 38 metres over sand. The gorgonians here grow undisturbed at depths most Medes circuits never reach.

Two dives in one site. The shallow rock chain is pure reserve biomass at its densest, with groupers, morays, scorpionfish, and dentex packed along a compact ridge between 8 and 23 metres. The Escrivana extension below is something else entirely. Three reef barriers descend to a final gorgonian wall at 38 metres that few casual visitors to the Medes ever see. This dual character makes Ferranelles genuinely versatile. A guided group of Open Water divers stays shallow and leaves satisfied. An experienced pair drops to the Escrivana and finds a wall that rivals anything in the archipelago. Winter storms can strip the gorgonians bare. Divers who visited after a 2009 storm found white branches broken across the seabed. Recovery is measured in years.

Current shapes the dive. The rock chain sits in an exposed corridor between islands, and water funnels through the gaps with force that varies within a single descent. Strong current days push divers to the sheltered side but bring the pelagics: barracudas, dentex, and the occasional tuna cruising between the Tascons and Ferranelles. Calm days allow the full chain traverse. For the Escrivana route, carry nitrox and watch your computer. The wall at 38 metres rewards those who go deep but punishes inattention to no-decompression limits. Bring a torch for the overhangs and crevices on the south side, where morays and conger eels retreat into shadow.