Tascó Gros

Two hundred and ten metres of islet, large enough that a single dive can circle the whole rock without retracing ground. The mooring sits on the north face, in the lee of Garbí, and the standard entry drops along the buoy line into 10-15 m on the islet's vertical face. The wall is the visual signature — red Paramuricea clavata and white Eunicella singularis layered across the rock from about 15 metres down, damselfish and Mediterranean fairy basslets hovering in front of the fans, sea bream working the edges. Past 22 metres the wall meets a platform of large fallen blocks at 22-28 metres, a labyrinth of cavities sheltering octopus, moray and slipper lobster; an attentive scorpionfish is usually findable within the first ten minutes. From there the guide picks: south across a 5 m channel into the canyon between this islet and Tascó Petit, gorgonian-covered walls dropping to about 40 metres at the reserve cap, or a perimeter loop around the rock, working back through the nudibranch-rich shallows on the rim. Resident dusky groupers are the regular significant sighting; barracuda, dentex and the occasional tuna pass through the blue water between the islets when the current runs.

Scale and shelter, in that order. The 210-metre diameter gives the dive a meandering, exploratory feel rather than the spot-the-feature pattern of smaller Medes pinnacles — a guide can drop a group on one side and let the dive unfold around the rock without retracing. Shelter is the operational story. The Garbí-lee mooring means Tascó Gros stays workable when Carall Bernat's exposed face is too rough or when boats rotate off the north-and-east-facing pinnacles like Pota del Llop. Centres fall back to "the Tascons" when wind builds, which is one reason the site comes up so often when divers compare notes — it is the reliable card, not the bucket-list dive. In summer 2024, divers asking online where to spend a Medes day were told flatly that the Tascons were full of life. The second hook is the eagle-ray window: groups of ten to fifteen Myliobatis aquila gather here through summer, and one diver counted seven on a single dive in the sector in 2024. Single rays appear at many Medes sites; the cluster behaviour at this latitude is the distinctive variable. The third is more prosaic — the shallow rim is covered with nudibranchs through most of the diving season, a useful structural detail for safety stops and macro photographers planning a route.

Three setups off one mooring. The wall at 15-22 metres is the wide-angle stretch — red and white gorgonian fans layered across the rock with damselfish and Mediterranean fairy basslets in front, a moray usually in a cavity within the first ten minutes. Light fades on the boulder platform at 22-28 metres, so the deeper grouper-and-gorgonian frames reward an off-camera strobe or a steady backup torch. The shallow rim is the macro stretch and works as the return route: nudibranchs concentrate here through most of the season, slipper lobster turns up around the perimeter, and the 5 m channel toward Tascó Petit packs fish density into safety-stop depth. The summer eagle-ray window is a looking-up frame on the outer side of the islet — wide-angle, silhouetted against the blue.

Brief the day's wind with the guide before descent — that decides whether the dive runs the perimeter, the deeper wall, or the south canyon. On exposed corners current can build even when the lee side stays calm; on stronger days the team works one side and ascends back to the buoy. Set a hard depth ceiling before descent if the canyon is on the plan: the gorgonian slope draws divers deeper than they intend, and the reserve cap is 40 m. EAN32 is the standard recommendation for the longer profiles. The thermocline is the other planning input: surface temperature reads 22-24°C in July and August, but below 15-18 m it steps down to 16-17°C and diver logs at 25-30 m have read 15-16°C even in September. Plan exposure protection for the bottom rather than the boat. Reserve permits cost 5.30 EUR per diver on top of the centre tariff, daily quota is enforced and OWD/P1-qualified divers must be accompanied by an instructor or divemaster — centres handle the logistics, but summer slots need advance notice.