Snorkeling in Corsica, Summer 2021

By Nik

Here is a quick report about snorkeling in Corsica in the summer of 2021. Me and my best friend went on a short holiday there, which didn’t exclusively focus on snorkeling, we only snorkeled at three different beaches. If you dedicate more time and effort I’m sure you could see more interesting marine life (I’ve heard about tuna, sardines, octopus, etc.), but we took it easy.

We visited three beaches: Tonnara, Roccapina, and La Canella. All three of them offer the best snorkeling along their rocky shores and in between the seagrass and seaweed. You won’t see anything much by floating above the sand plains in the middle of the bays.

Tonnara and Roccapina are also highly recommended as beaches to read, snack, or nap on in between swimming. Be aware that the road to Roccapina is a steep dirt road with more holes and bumps than your car suspension cares for.

What We Saw While Snorkeling in Corsica

The species we saw and could identify were:

Plants:

• Posidonia oceanica, Neptune grass (great name)
• Acetabularia acetabulum, Mermaids wineglass (love that name even more!)
• Padina pavonica, Peacock’s tail

Animals:

• Actinia mediterranea, a sea anemone that looks like a tomato
• Sarpa salpa, Dreamfish
• Thalassoma pavo, Ornate Wrasse
• Lithognatus mermyrus, Sand Steenbras
• Chromis chromis, Mediterranean chromis
• Symphodus roissali, Five-spotted wrasse
• Serranus scriba, Painted comber
• Serranus cabrilla, Comber
• Oblada melanura, Saddled sea bream
• Diplodus vulgaris, Two-banded sea bream
• Diplodus sargus, White sea bream

I know Corsica isn’t exactly tropical snorkeling, and I wouldn’t recommend going there purely for snorkeling, but it’s a beautiful island and what’s a holiday without at least one day in the water?