RMS Rhone & Salt Island, the area around Ginger's Backside

RMS Rhone & Salt Island · British Virgin Islands · Reef

Ginger's Backside

A reef the length of Ginger Island's calm north side

Area photo: Cayeldo · CC BY-SA 3.0

A coral reef running the length of Ginger Island's north side, starting at about 5 metres and falling away to sand at 18. This side of the island is almost always flat and calm, which is why boats use it for surface intervals and second dives rather than as the morning's main event. It is a long, easy reef with no navigation problem to solve.

Where it is and how deep

Depth profile of Ginger's Backside: typical dive 5–18 m (15–60 ft) 18 m · Open Water30 m · Advanced40 m · Recreational limit5 m18 mtypical dive
Depths on a shared scale to 40 m (130 ft); dashed lines mark common certification limits.

18.3890° N, 64.4856° WPublished position for this site.

The dive

This is the sheltered side of Ginger Island, and it is almost always flat, so boats park here for surface intervals as much as for the dive. The reef begins in about 5 metres just off the rock and runs the length of the island, falling away gradually to a sandy bottom at around 18 metres, which puts the whole dive inside a comfortable shallow no-decompression profile.

There is no route to learn. Drop in, put the reef on one shoulder and the sand on the other, and swim the contour until it is time to turn; the slope keeps you oriented and the depth barely changes from one end to the other. That makes it an easy second dive after something deeper elsewhere in the Southern Islands, and a sensible place to put a nervous diver in the water.

Marine life and season

The sources we used don't single out particular species here.

Month-by-month season rating for Ginger's Backside
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
PrimePrimePrimePrimeGoodGoodGoodFairFairFairGoodPrime

Season follows RMS Rhone & Salt Island: Nov–Jun is calmest and clearest; Aug–Oct hurricane season brings swell that can close the exposed Rhone site entirely.

Questions divers ask

How deep is Ginger's Backside?+

The reef starts at about 5 metres and falls away to a sandy bottom at around 18 metres, so the dive stays shallow throughout and bottom times are long.

Sources

  1. Gingers Backside — Scubago / SSI MyDiveGuide

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