Family Two-Tank — Molasses Reef

Look for

• 

  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.

• 

  Elkhorn coral

  Broad antler branches in the shallows, the classic Caribbean reef silhouette.

  This is the shallowest part of most dives, so watch your fins above it.

• 

  Southern stingray

  A grey diamond gliding over the sand, or buried with only its eyes showing.

  Give rays space and watch from the side, not from above.

• 

  Blue tang

  A deep blue oval with a bright scalpel at the tail; juveniles are yellow.

  Hover rather than chase. A loose group grazes past you on its own.

• 

  French angelfish

  A tall, dark disc scaled in tiny yellow crescents, usually in pairs.

  Stay still for a moment beside a sponge and the pair often comes to look at you.

• 

  Yellowtail snapper

  Silver schools ruled by one bright yellow stripe running out into the tail.

  Look into the blue beyond the reef instead of only looking down.

• 

  Goliath grouper

  Enormous and unbothered, usually parked under a ledge or in a wreck's shadow.

  Give it room and never block its way out from under an overhang.

• 

  Grooved brain coral

  A rounded head patterned with maze-like ridges and deep valleys.

  Notice the pattern while keeping fins and hands safely clear.

The route

Moments from divers

The site