Cape Kaliakria Reef Fish
Dive site
The limestone base of Kaliakria's dramatic headland continues below the surface as a broken reef of boulders and fissures that shelters the most diverse fish assemblage on Bulgaria's Black Sea coast. Horse mackerel school in their thousands over the reef crest, with belone garfish patrolling the shallows above and Black Sea bream working the crevices below. Sprat shoals pulse in tight silver formations mid-water. This is one of Europe's few dive sites where the complete absence of elasmobranchs — no sharks, no rays of significance — is itself ecologically notable, a direct consequence of the Black Sea's low salinity and cold deep layer.
Conditions
Depth
5 to 22 m
Open water and up
Current
Variable
Can pick up on the edge
Visibility
8 to 12 m
Clearest in the calm season
Water
7 to 26°C
5mm wetsuit
Month by month
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water (°C) | 7 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 13 | 18 | 22 | 23 | 20 | 16 | 11 | 8 |
| Vis (m) | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 |
| Current | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Gentle | Gentle | calm | calm | calm | Gentle | Gentle | Moderate | Strong |
Your chances of seeing each animal
European horse mackerel
Sometimes
About 1 in 3 dives
Black Sea bream
Sometimes
About 1 in 3 dives
European sprat
Rare
Now and then
Garfish
Rare
Now and then
Field journal
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