Capo Carbonara

Diving here is straightforward and boat-based: a short run out of Villasimius to a seamount or an island shore, two dives in a morning, all of it inside the Capo Carbonara marine protected area and guided by an authorised centre. The granite shapes everything, rounded boulders stacked into canyons, cracks and swim-throughs, with pale sand channels running between them that keep the light bright well down the rock.

The seccas are the real draw. Secca di Cavoli rises from 40 m to within a few metres of the surface, with a Madonna statue standing at 12 m, and the fish stack up over the top, so a typical dive drops down one flank, works along the rock and finishes on the summit with gas to spare. Lower down, the boulders are crusted with yellow cup coral. The island ground around Isola dei Cavoli and Serpentara is calmer and shallower, and tends to be used for the second dive or for training.

It is an easy destination to dive and a good one to learn in, with forgiving shallow granite and light current on most days. What it asks for is patience with the weather, because the seamounts are exposed and boats move inshore whenever the wind gets up. Divers who like rock architecture and a decent chance of large grouper get the most from it; anyone chasing wrecks will find the list short, a scuttled tug and little else, and there is no dependable pelagic action.