Manijin Island

The island wall overhangs a sandy patch at about 18 m, casting patterns on the sand, and a swim-through from 12 m up to 8 m glows pink with Peyssonnelia algae. Near the end of the dive a large bowl, formed where the roof of a gas bubble in the rock collapsed, is entered through an archway; divers circle beneath its overhangs and leave through a blowhole where the surge pushes them out like a champagne cork. A cave covered in pink and purple calcareous algae and a longer, narrower swim-through into the reef add to the variety. Wrasse, octopus, moray eels, crabs, shrimp and occasional turtles and barracuda are seen, and remnants of ancient pottery lie on the seabed. The water between the island and the coast is a protected zone because Mediterranean monk seals visit the shallows and caves in winter to give birth.