Ponta do Ouro · Mozambique · Reef
Bass City
Bass, basslets and garden eels on a 20 m reef
Area photo: Derek Keats · CC BY 2.0
Bass City is a mid-depth reef averaging 20 m with 23 m at its deepest, reached by boat off the surf launch. It is named for the bass and basslets that hold on it, and the rest of the cast is small and varied: lionfish, eels, garden eels, batfish, dusky sweepers, boxfish, tropical flounders, frogfish and paper fish.
Where it is and how deep
No published position for this site — the map shows Ponta do Ouro and its other sites; operators know the mooring.
The dive
The site averages 20 m and reaches 23 m, a mid-depth profile that gives a useful but finite window on the bottom. The boat launches through the surf from the beach and puts you in over the reef, and the sensible plan is to spend the deeper part of the dive on the ground the site is named for, then work shallower along the rock as the gas and the no-stop time run down.
The bass and basslets that give the site its name hold over the reef in numbers, and around them the reef fills in with lionfish, eels, batfish, dusky sweepers and boxfish. Look at the sand as well as the rock: garden eels stand out of the bottom, tropical flounders sit flat on it, and frogfish and paper fish are here for divers who go slowly and look at the structure rather than swim past it.
Marine life and season
- Frogfish
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good |
Season follows Ponta do Ouro: Resident dolphins are seen year-round; shark activity at Pinnacles and whale migration peak July-October.
Know before you go
- Lionfish are part of the resident cast on this reef; keep clear of the ledges and do not put hands down without looking.
Questions divers ask
How deep is Bass City?+
It averages 20 m with a maximum of 23 m, placing it in the mid-depth range of the reefs dived from Ponta do Ouro rather than with the deep sites.
Sources
- Bass City — Scubago
- Diving in Mozambique — Wikivoyage
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