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Sec Boucanier

Sponges, and a current that never stops

Colourful sponges on a rocky bottom
The sponges, fed by the current.

Sec Boucanier has one feature that explains all the rest: a current runs there permanently. That current makes the richness of the site, and it is also what calls for method.

Why current feeds

Sponges, sea fans and soft corals are filter feeders: they do not hunt, they wait for the water to bring them plankton. Without current they starve; with a permanent one they thrive.

That is why this site shows a remarkable variety of sponges, and why fish are numerous: where filter feeders abound, the whole food chain follows.

Diving in current

A permanent current is not fought, it is used. You enter upstream, let yourself be carried, and the boat picks the group up downstream.

Three reflexes are enough: stay together, stay low where the current is weaker, and never try to swim back against it. This is a site that forgives improvisation badly, and method very well.

What level you need here

Your levelWhat you can do here
Level 1Yes, with an instructor, if conditions allow on the day
Level 2 and aboveThe whole site

As everywhere, the dive director judges on the day. On a site with permanent current, that decision matters more than elsewhere.