Snorkeling in the 'Golfe de Saint Florent', Corsica

Naar de Nederlandse site

View towards the eastern end of the Golf, with the village of Saint Florent

Description of the site

This spot is reasonably well protected against the wind. The eastern side is protected by the peninsula 'Cap Corse'. Wind from the west is kept out by the hills of the 'Desert des Agriates'.
Nevertheless, we ran into a thick layer of dead plant material at the eastern beaches in the bay. The western beaches proved to be much better, and much more popular too!
The village (perhaps I should say little city) of Saint Florent offers all facilities, including a boulevard with restaurants, running along the harbour. Unfortunately there is a small and crowded road in between the restaurants and the harbour, which spoils the view.
Google maps offers a good overview of the bay.
For Google Earth users: our provider Tele2 is not willing to change the MIME-settings of the server, so the server does not support placemark files. Therefor we supply two alternatives:
- save placemark file as *.kmz file (so not as zip) and duouble click it from your explorer, or
- cut and paste the coordinates into the 'fly to' box: 42 40 38.08 N 9 17 02.94 E (this is the most precize way to view the spot anyway!)


Afionas, twin bay, view from West

Snorkeling character

This spot only gets two stars. I have to say we did not have time to explore the bay extensively. It may well be that the eastern side offers better things than we have seen.
Stepping into the water from the beach, the under water view is disappointing, caused by the sandy soil. No plants, so no fish too.
At the western end of the beaches of Saint Florent you will find a large field of sea grass, of course harbouring other sea life. The western end also has a rocky coast. We did not find a way to get there from the land and we did not explore it form the side of the sea.
When you have a change to explore Punta di a Frati or Anse di Fornali, please inform me about the results! Including a description of how to get there!


Travel suggestions

You will probably come from the east, for instance from Bastia. Saint Florent is easy to get to from the city of Bastia. The D81 will bring you there. The road has many turns but is easy to drive.
From the west, the road is totally different. You will use the same D81, but here the road is pretty difficult to drive.
Once in the village, the western beaches are easy to find. You will find sufficient parking place.



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