Curaçao · Curaçao · Wall · Reef
Sponge Forest
Elephant ear, barrel and stove pipe sponges on one wall
Sponge Forest is a boat dive near Playa Santa Cruz, between Mushroom Forest and the Blue Room. As the name says, it is a dive for sponges: a gently sloping wall covered in orange elephant ear sponges, giant barrel sponges and stove pipe sponges.
Where it is and how deep
12.2995° N, 69.1548° WApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The boat drops divers over a gently sloping wall that runs from about 12 m (40 ft) down to 36 m (120 ft). Sponges cover it: orange elephant ear sponges, huge barrel sponges and tall stove pipe sponges.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Fair | Fair | Fair |
Season follows Curaçao: Diving runs all year; October to February is the rainy season, and May to November brings warmer water and fewer crowds.
Photos from Sponge Forest
LASZLO ILYES from Cleveland, Ohio, USA · CC BY 2.0
Sources
- Sponge Forest Dive Site — Dive Curaçao
Photo credits
- Close-up of a green moray eel with its mouth open, its head rising from a crevice in a pale, algae-covered reef. by LASZLO ILYES from Cleveland, Ohio, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- A white and black spotted trunkfish with yellow fins hovering in blue-green water above the reef. by LASZLO ILYES from Cleveland, Ohio, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
More dive sites in Curaçao
Rare black coral among sea fans and bottlebrush corals
Cave & cavern
A shallow air-filled cavern next to Mushroom Forest
Artificial reef
Cars, trucks and a barge stacked down a slope into deep water
Reef
A shallow bay reef with 11 metres of water at most
Eagle rays and seahorses on a fringing reef just off the beach
Reef
Elephant ear sponges and brain corals on a drop-off well offshore
Seahorses and frogfish along a vertical wall towards Small Wall
Artificial reef
A wreck and a platform on sand, 15 metres at most
Similar dives elsewhere
Canyons through the reef, five minutes from the fishermen's dock
An 18th-century anchor buried in the reef that gives the site its name
Elkhorn and pillar coral on a bank above a deep reef drop
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Near-vertical face of tube sponges, sea fans and black coral