Cocos (Keeling) Islands · Australia · Coral garden · Reef
Cabbage Patch
Cabbage coral from 5 to 20 m with a swim-through canyon alongside
Area photo: photoboothrental.com · CC BY-SA 3.0
Cabbage Patch is a broad field of cabbage, or salad, coral spreading between 5 and 20 m, and the dive-guide listing rates it one of the sites to do when diving Cocos. Garden eels stand out of the sand, whitetip reef sharks sleep here through the day, and a swim-through canyon runs close by.
Where it is and how deep
12.0946° S, 96.8422° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
The site is one large stand of the coral divers here call cabbage or salad coral, running from 5 m down to 20 m. That spread is the dive: you work along and down through the coral field rather than following a wall or a fixed line, and because the shallow end tops out at 5 m there is plenty of room left in the profile at the end.
Look into the sand for garden eels and along the coral for sleeping whitetip reef sharks, which are the two animals the site is known for. A swim-through canyon sits close to the coral field. Nothing here demands depth: at 20 m at its deepest the site leaves a long bottom time and an unhurried route back up through the shallow coral.
Marine life and season
- Reef sharks
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Good |
Season follows Cocos (Keeling) Islands: Divable year-round; Apr–Jun and Oct–Nov are calmest, with the wet season from December to March bringing more wind.
Know before you go
- Some of the coral was broken in a recent storm and is regrowing, so keep fins clear of the recovering plates and watch your trim over the shallowest sections at 5 m.
Questions divers ask
How deep is Cabbage Patch?+
The cabbage coral field runs from 5 m down to 20 m, and 20 m is the deepest part of the dive. That keeps the whole site inside Open Water limits and leaves a long bottom time.
What can you see at Cabbage Patch?+
The large stand of cabbage or salad coral is the feature. Garden eels stand out of the sand and whitetip reef sharks sleep here during the day, and there is a swim-through canyon nearby.
Sources
- Cabbage Patch Cocos Keeling — Scubago / SSI MyDiveGuide
- Cocos (Keeling) Islands destination listing — Scubago / SSI MyDiveGuide
In The Logbook
- When is slack water? Tides for diversOcean science · 7 min read
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