Port-Cros & Îles d'Hyères

Most days are two dives from a boat out of the mainland ports, with the choice of site made by the wind rather than by preference: the sheltered side of Port-Cros when the mistral blows, the exposed wreck ground outside the park when it does not. Park rules keep operators on designated moorings and limit numbers on the sites, so nothing is dropped onto the seagrass, and the condition of the reef reflects it.

La Gabinière is a small islet off Port-Cros whose rock face falls away in stepped ledges and boulder slopes, gorgonian-covered on the deeper sections and busy with fish from the surface down. Elsewhere in the group are headland dives such as Pointe du Vaisseau, gorgonian-hung from about 20 m, and submerged rocks such as Sec du Sarranier off Porquerolles, which rises to about 12 m and gathers shoals in the water above it. Visibility is honest rather than spectacular here, and it swings with the weather of the preceding days.

The wrecks are a separate proposition from the park diving. Le Donator, mined in 1945 off Porquerolles, and the steamer Le Grec both sit past 45 m, so they are short, cool, tightly planned dives with a decompression obligation and an eye on the clock, and local clubs will want to see a deep qualification before taking the booking. La Gabinière and the park reefs are comfortable Open Water ground. The area suits divers who want to see a reserve that visibly worked, and those building deep wreck experience with an easy fallback when the sea says no.