Diving destination

Put on your diving suit, learn the essential signs to communicate under water, listen to your instructors’ briefing and take off on the boat…Soon enough, the engine will turn off and the boat moor in a creek. The cord ladders will be thrown in the water.

There are over forty diving spots in Hyères and the Golden Isles: all precious entry gates into the wonderful maritime National Park and its mythical
shipwrecks scattered at various locations and depths on the underwater bed. For the more advanced divers, a string of shipwrecks can be admired between the Giens peninsula and Le Levant island. Levels of accessibility differ and a military authorisation is required to explore La Puissante, a striking shipwreck surrounded by posidonia and large noble pen shells. The nearby shipwrecks of Le Donator and Le Grec are also famous diving spots surrounded by a rich underwater flora and fauna. Coloured sea anemones, sponges, spirographis, scorphionfish, eels and groupers share this silent stage. Actually, a famous scene starring a grouper in Jacques Cousteau’s 1956 Cannes-prized film The Silent World would have been filmed in Port-Cros! Hyères has all the required facilities and equipment to help advanced athletes and amateur visitors catch the perfect shot of their submarine adventure. In Port-Cros, a submarine discovery trail has been created. Accessible to snorkelers, it is a fun family activity and an entertaining way to raise the public’s awareness to the necessity of protecting such a fragile ecosystem

Archaeological Submarine Trail

Just a few meters away from the Almanarre beach and the Olbia archaeological site, an archaeological submarine trail invites you on the excavation of a 19^th century tartane shipwreck. As a guide takes you through a protected maritime zone, s/he will how you surprising mother-of-pearls hidden amongst the Posidonia and starfish resting on a rock. Upon your return to the beach, you will be taught methods of underwater archaeological excavations.