Dog Rocks

The top of the reef starts at about 10 m and slopes down to 15 m before dropping off into the deep blue of Exuma Sound, so the dive has a clear shape: shallow reef on one side, open water on the other, and a wall between them. This is one of the few sites in the area where the current can run strong, which decides the direction you swim and makes the drop-off edge the part to treat with respect.

The Cathedral is the reason most divers come. It is a cavern-like swim-through at 12 m where sunlight filters in from above and lights the passage, and the space inside is packed with silversides. Groupers and jacks work the entrances and push into the cavern to feed on them, so the swim-through is usually the busiest few minutes of the dive rather than a quiet passage.

Coming out near the wall, the growth is worth the time: huge black coral bushes, tube sponges and orange elephant-ear sponges cover the rock along the drop-off. Keep half an eye on the blue while you look at it, because passing sharks and eagle rays cross the edge here, and large schools of Atlantic spadefish hang off the wall. Watch the gauge as you work along it — with current running, depth creeps up on you.