Taliarte

Under the entry rocks, a dense carpet of brown algae covers the bottom and runs out to the lip of a sand shelf about six metres down. The route crosses that carpet and works the crevices of the platform, where octopus, spider crabs and giant anemones sit tucked into the rock, then finishes near the small seagrass patch by the harbour mouth. Seahorses are reported in the meadow beside it, and they move around, so a guide who has dived it recently saves time. The rocky ledge here is a small veril between the harbour mouth and Melenara beach, and the whole route stays shallow.

Two dives share the Taliarte name: a sheltered shore dive beside the harbour breakwater, and a tuna-boat wreck on sand about 500 m out from the harbour pier.

The breakwater shields the shore dive from the north swell, and local operators use it for first dives, courses and refreshers. They rate it best after dark. Slipper lobsters, sea cucumbers, sea tomatoes with their tentacles open and squid rise into the shallows to feed, and the macro life is small and camouflaged, so a slow pace and a good light pay off.

The wreck is the Chien Chuen No.6, a Taiwanese tuna boat that ran aground on the Baja de Taliarte on 23 January 1985. The hull reportedly broke in two: the stern sank at the foot of the rock, and the bow drifted about 950 m to the spot where it now rests upright on sand at 40 m. Locals still call it El Coreano. The hull is small enough to circle in one dive, rays rest on the sand around it, and angel sharks and electric rays turn up among them. For dive boats leaving this harbour it is the fallback when the sea is rough.

The wreck is graded a dive for advanced divers. In good weather it is simple, but the 40 m depth makes mandatory decompression stops easy to incur, and Nitrox 28% is highly recommended because no-decompression time on air is limited. Low current can mean poor visibility around the hull, and spring and autumn are the least windy seasons for the boat trip. The anchor can drag on the sand, so the descent is made holding the anchor line. In February 2025 the wreck's foremast disappeared after a diving boat's anchoring buoy snagged on it, and a passing boat probably dragged it away. The line is the one thing to hold on the way down.