A granite archipelago in the Strait of Bonifacio off southern Corsica, where the famous Mérouville shoal hosts dozens of dusky groupers so habituated to divers they approach within touching distance. The whole area sits inside the Bouches de Bonifacio nature reserve, the largest in metropolitan France.
Conditions, highlights, and the resident marine life.
Water and air temperature across the year.
The Lavezzi islands scatter across the Strait of Bonifacio between Corsica and Sardinia, their wave-polished granite continuing underwater as boulder fields, swim-throughs and shallow rises over white sand. The flagship dive is Mérouville (the Sec du Pellu), three rocky rises on a 30 m seabed where roughly thirty dusky groupers — protected from spearfishing since 1993 and from recreational hook-and-line fishing under a moratorium renewed to 2033 — have grown large and remarkably bold around divers. Their tameness traces back to decades of habituation, and while operators famously describe close encounters, best practice in the reserve is to look without touching or feeding protected wildlife. Conditions are classic seasonal Mediterranean: 23–26 °C and 20 m-plus visibility in summer, dropping to 13–14 °C in winter when most centres close, and the strait ranks among the windiest corners of the western Mediterranean, so sites can blow out at short notice. Diving is regulated inside the Réserve naturelle des Bouches de Bonifacio — boats use designated moorings, spearfishing is banned in the reinforced-protection zones around the islands, and since 2026 seasonal no-go zones protect nesting seabirds. Day boats run from Bonifacio, Porto-Vecchio and Pianottoli, with easy shallow sites for beginners and 30–40 m shoals for experienced divers.
What makes this dive worth the trip.
14 species you’re likely to encounter on a dive here.
5 signature sites at this destination.
A shallow granite site on Lavezzu island named for several air bells — pockets of trapped air carved by time into the rock — that divers can surface into. Working from a few metres down to 35 m at the base, the easy upper section is a favourite for first dives and training inside the reserve, with wrasse, bream and octopus among the boulders.
The legend of southern Corsica: three rocky rises off the south-east of the Lavezzi, topping out at 17 m on a 30–36 m sand bottom, home to around thirty dusky groupers habituated to divers over decades. Brown meagre, bream and morays shelter under the boulder falls while dentex, amberjack and — in July–August — big leerfish patrol open water. Open Water divers can do the site, but the grouper terraces sit near 30 m, so an advanced certification gets far more out of it.
A beacon-marked reef (also charted as Sperduto) surfacing on the south-eastern edge of the archipelago, dropping from the surface to about 30 m. Large schools of barracuda frequently circle the beacon, with groupers, brown meagre and morays in the rocky terrain below — one of the better big-fish drifts on the Lavezzi plateau.
The islet next to the Perduto reef on the eastern fringe of the archipelago, with relaxed boulder slopes from the surface to about 25 m. Classic Mediterranean rock-fish territory — groupers, morays, octopus and crustaceans tucked into the granite — and an easy second dive after the deeper shoals.
The reef beneath the big Lavezzi beacon south of the islands — the southernmost point of metropolitan France — where a shelf at around 6–10 m drops away to 40 m in open strait water between Corsica and Sardinia. Gorgonian-dressed drop-offs and passing pelagics reward experienced divers, but the position is fully exposed to the strait's wind and current.
Local dive centers, resorts, and hotels.
Verified dive centers, resorts, and hotels around Lavezzi Islands (Mérouville) will list here — pricing, photos, and direct contact.
