Lighthouse

The Lighthouse is a reef dive at the eastern tip of the Portofino promontory in Italy, inside the Portofino National Marine Reserve, and the most charming and deepest site in the park. The reef runs from the surface to about 75 m. Strong currents often hit it, which cut visibility and limit the deeper exploration to experienced divers, and the current varies from weak to strong. In good weather the shallow part suits divers of any level and snorkelling, while the deep water is for certified technical divers.

The seabed starts a few metres below the shore. A large ridge forms walls and terraces that descend steadily toward 50 m, where they end among big spires of rock and continue beyond 70 m. Red gorgonians outnumber yellow ones as you go deeper, and the rock is crowded with big fans and Aplysina aerophoba sponges, with colonies of Eunicella verrucosa and Leptogorgia sarmentosa on the bottom. Big sea urchins are common. Giant conger eels share their dens with large moray eels, and octopuses live here at certain times of year.

At around 62 m on the foot of the ridge is a rare concentration of more than 20 large colonies of false black coral (Gerardia savaglia). Decompression is required on the deeper dives.