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Divers descend through blue water past a school of creole wrasse on a Curaçao reef

Curaçao · Curaçao · Wall · Reef

Black Coral Garden

Rare black coral among sea fans and bottlebrush corals

Area photo: LASZLO ILYES · CC BY 2.0

Black Coral Garden is a boat dive off Soto, between Hell's Corner and Rediho, on a wall with little to no current. Its draw is black coral, rare and close to extinction, growing alongside sea fans and bottlebrush corals.

Where it is and how deep

Depth profile of Black Coral Garden: typical dive 12–36 m (40–118 ft) 18 m · Open Water30 m · Advanced40 m · Recreational limit12 m36 mtypical dive
Depths on a shared scale to 50 m (164 ft); dashed lines mark common certification limits.

12.2770° N, 69.1205° WApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.

The dive

The dive runs parallel to the wall as an out-and-back from the boat. Black corals grow along it with sea fans and bottlebrush corals among dense marine life, between about 12 m (40 ft) and 36 m (120 ft).

Marine life and season

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

Month-by-month season rating for Black Coral Garden
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
FairFairGoodGoodGoodGoodGoodGoodGoodFairFairFair

Season follows Curaçao: Diving runs all year; October to February is the rainy season, and May to November brings warmer water and fewer crowds.

Know before you go

  • As on most walls, it is easy to drift too deep while looking at the black corals; watch the gauge.

Dive videos

Scuba Diving CURACAO Black Coral Garden 2019 [4K] · Sand Gravity Adventures on YouTube

Sources

  1. Black Coral Garden Dive Site in Soto — Dive Curaçao
  2. OpenStreetMap — OpenStreetMap contributors

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