Fish and other underwater creatures seen while snorkeling (free diving) in Ste Maxime

For many years, twenty or more, I have been swimming in the summer in Ste Maxime with a mask and snorkel... and a camera! I love snorkeling and I have seen wonderful things even at very short distances from the beach. I have a fairly good quality underwater camera (Olympus Tough) and taking photos and filming motivates me to swim longer, more often in order to catch this or that fish from the right angle. In addition, when you take photos, you observe and notice many more interesting things: this is true out of the water and in the water.

By returning to the same spots every day, I was able to learn where a particular species (and even individual!) was located and observe their behavior. This is very different from my other snorkeling experiences in the Galapagos, Costa Rica, Belize, Hawaii or Bahamas where you only go to a spot once and don't learn much, even if the fish are magnificent!

I stay fairly close to the coast and don't dive: everything you'll see here is taken from the surface. I swim from the Croisette beach, near the sailing school, past the King of Sweden's house with blue shutters where there are beautiful rocks (a grouper and two moray eels live there) and often go as far as the concrete bridge (blennies, anchovies and rombous). A few years ago I discovered another very wild place, with rocky bottoms and Posidonia seagrass beds, just a 10-minute walk towards Saint Tropez: La Grande Pointe (juvenile amberjacks, garfish etc.). Swimming behind the sea wall, there is no beach so no one comes there.

I never know what I'm going to stumble upon; I've only seen some species once: you have to always have your camera handy! This year in 2025 I saw two new species: the flying gurnard and the lizardfish. Maybe one day I'll manage to take a picture of the barracuda or the tuna... Or finally take a good photo of the damselfish?

To contact me: evechauchard@gmail.com

I have used this excellent book extensively for species identification: Fauna and Flora of the Mediterranean Sea , by Enric Ballesteros and Toni Liobet, Biotope éditions. ISBN 978-2-36662-172-3.