RMS Rhone & Salt Island · British Virgin Islands · Pinnacle
Santa Monica Rock
A pinnacle from 32 m ledges up to a 5 m reef top
Area photo: Gareth Richards · CC BY 3.0
A deepwater pinnacle south of Norman Island, running from a shallow reef top at about 5 metres down to deep ledges at around 32. One dive can take in the deep ledges and finish shallow on the same rock. It is heavily weather dependent and hard to locate without GPS coordinates, so the trip only goes when the sea state allows.
Where it is and how deep
18.2950° N, 64.6130° WApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
Getting on the rock is the first part of the dive. It stands in open water south of Norman Island and is hard to locate without GPS, so the skipper runs to a stored position and the trip only goes ahead when the sea state allows it. Like the other main sites in the territory it carries a National Parks Trust mooring; once you are down the line the profile is yours to choose, and the deep ledges bottom out at around 32 metres.
Work the deep end first, then climb the rock as your computer allows. The structure runs from those ledges up to a shallow reef at about 5 metres, so the ascent follows the pinnacle rather than open blue water, and the top of the rock sits at safety-stop depth. Keep the deep phase short: 32 metres on an exposed offshore site leaves little no-decompression time and no shelter if the conditions change while you are down.
Marine life and season
The sources we used don't single out particular species here.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Good | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Prime |
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.
Know before you go
- Heavily weather dependent and offshore: conditions can turn during the dive, so keep the deep phase short and stay on the structure rather than drifting off into blue water.
Questions divers ask
How deep is Santa Monica Rock?+
The pinnacle runs from a shallow reef at about 5 metres down to deep ledges at around 32 metres, so most dives spend a short window deep and the rest of the time working back up the rock.
Sources
- Diving in the British Virgin Islands — Wikivoyage
More dive sites in RMS Rhone & Salt Island
Reef
Sponge-painted canyons and an archway into a shallow pool
Wall
A sheltered mini-wall from 5 m to 18 m under fans and sponges
Pinnacle
Four pinnacles and coral gardens, all inside 15 m
Reef
Sheltered canyons and ridges off the tip of Norman Island
Wreck
A 1940 Navy fuel barge under a mesh kraken, in 17 m
Wreck
A 1988 refrigeration ship at 23 m, a long run offshore
Coral ridges in north-south lines with sand lanes between
Wall
A three-step wall with different growth on every ledge
Similar dives elsewhere
A coral spire off the wall, topping out at about 27 m
A lone pinnacle where eagle rays and reef sharks pass in the gloom
A needle-thin pillar rising to 27 m, dived with Third Encounter
Four sunlit tunnels bored through a coral mountain