Two-Tank Reef — Pickles & French

Sat, Sep 19 · 11:30 AM – 3:00 PM EDT

A second sailing to the barrel-coral reef, paired with French Reef.

The day

Welcoming dive

Stoplight parrotfish

Green moray

4 species

Nurse shark
A broad, mellow bottom-rester with rounded fins and two barbels at the snout.
Check quiet ledges without crowding or blocking an animal's way out.
Stoplight parrotfish
A heavy beaked grazer: green and gold as an adult, mottled red as a youngster.
Move slowly near coral heads and let the colour find you.
Green moray
A heavy olive eel that fills a crevice and breathes with its mouth open.
The open mouth is breathing, not a threat. Keep hands away and it stays calm.
Squirrelfish
Red and silver with huge night-adapted eyes, tucked into a hole by day.
Red goes grey at depth without a light, so hold a torch on it to see the colour.

Pickles ReefWelcoming dive

Drift the coral ridge from the mooring, pause over the barrel-shaped heads, then loop back over the sand.

Usually gentle; the crew confirms the final plan.

Grazing parrotfish work the coral heads all day; blue tangs move through in loose, easy groups.

Blue tangs · stoplight parrotfish · French angelfish · sergeant majors

Landmarks

Barrel coral heads · Reef formationThe fossilised cement casks the reef is named for, grown into the coral.
Anchor chain remnant · Reef historyA length of chain grown into the reef, running off toward the sand.

French ReefWelcoming dive

Drop on the mooring, work the ledges and swim-throughs into the current, then drift back over the coral heads.

Usually gentle; the crew confirms the final plan.

Landmarks

Christmas Tree Cave · Reef formationA short swim-through with two exits; the coral over the entrance is where it gets its name.
Hourglass Cave · Reef formationNarrow in the middle and open at both ends — a good look at what lives on a ceiling.
White Sand Bottom Cave · Reef formationThe brightest of the tunnels, and usually the one with a nurse shark parked in it.

This charter is for divers with Open Water or higher.

2 spots left