The bay of San Michele di Pagana is at the extreme western side of the C zone of the Protected Marine Area of Cape Portofino.The foundation of this naturalistic area, between Punta del Faro and Punta Chiappa, has allowed life to prosper in all of the surrounding area that is characterized in prevalence by sand and large extensions of posidonia (oceanic posedonia). The sea here is not very deep and it is protected from navigation.to and from Portofino.

The prairies of posidonia are the perfect habitat for myriads of small animals that hide and live amongst the long leaves of these aquatic plants. At about a dozen metres of depth there are sea dates (Lithophaga lithophaga), they are a protected kind of mollusc that having been largely picked in the past, has caused the destruction of entire parts of the reef. Mormores (Lithognathus mormyus) live hidden in the waves of the sand hunting for food. There are also many branches of saraguses (Diplodus sargus), salpas (Sarpa salpa), orates (Sparus aurata), big red scorfans (Scoraena scrofa) and pleasant, intelligent octopuses (Octpalateopus vulgaris).

As highlighted in “Immersion into Portofino”, biodiversity is the richness of our sea. The book is a good guide for the exploration of the most beautiful and well known immersions in the Protected Marine Area, it tries to instil curiosity in the readers, by pointing out the richness of our sea.
It is not wrong to consider this area as one of the most interesting of the Mediterranean sea. In fact the University of Genoa, is profoundly interested in the health of the prairies of posidonia and is studying it with great care.