El Bajón

El Bajón sits in the Mar de las Calmas ('Sea of Calms') off the south coast of El Hierro, with the island bulk to the north shielding the dominant NW-N-W Atlantic groundswell — the reason the reserve is exceptionally calm. The exposed window is the open Atlantic to the south, with the S-SSW-SW sector fully open and most surface chop generated by Southerly storms or sustained S-SE wind. As a deep offshore seamount it is rarely affected, but a Southerly blow or distant S swell can build surface waves and reinforce the site's notorious currents, forcing dives to be called off.