Kirby's Rock

The rock has two faces and they dive differently. On the shallower side the wall bottoms out at 16 m, which is where much of the dive is spent: this is the classic Anilao site for golden pygmy seahorses, clinging to the branches of the gorgonians, and it takes a guide who knows which fans hold them to put you on one. Moray eels and anemonefish are along the same stretch.

The deeper side slopes to 30 m and then into the depths, so it is worth agreeing a turn depth before you drop in. At the deep section a large submerged boulder is bedecked in sea fans, crinoids and soft corals, and covered with small yellow sea cucumbers. Along the sand, look for blue-lined dart gobies and purple fire gobies, and in the sheltered pockets for twin-spot lionfish or a small huddle of harlequin sweetlips. Frogfish are here too, squatting beside sponges of much the same colour.

It is a long dive by design rather than a circuit to be completed. The wall is short and the animals on it are small, so working one stretch slowly returns more than covering ground does, and the shallower face is where the profile lets you do it. Set the turn depth on the deep side first, then spend what is left of the tank above 16 m.