Hortense

comment by Anonymous, 2005-06-17 23:07:50

One of Arcachon best diving spots
"Hortense" is probably the best diving spot accessible from the shore in the Arcachon lagoon. I regularly dive there and the marine life is always interesting. Sea anemones, shrimps, crabs, soles, and even a lonely lobster inside the blockhaus. The only known dangers are the marine traffic, specially in summer and the strong currents. We always start the dive 30 minutes before high or low tide. The viz can be awful (hardly 50cm) to beautiful in excess of 10m. The water temperature ranges between 8°C in january to 22°C in august. Always end your dive swimming underwater following the shore line to the slipway at 3-4m depth: if you surface from the 15-20m depth range, you are right into the navigation chanel and likely to be hit!
Enjoy diving there as much as I do.