Rote Island · Indonesia · Reef
Vanessa's Forest
A calm rocky slope with room to go deep
Area photo: Mujiono Leo · CC BY-SA 3.0
Vanessa's Forest is a rocky reef off Rote that slopes down to a maximum of 30 m, though most of the dive stays around 12 m. Current is absent or light, which makes it one of the gentler of the island's deeper sites. Pipefish turn up among the reef fish.
0Where it is and how deep
No published position for this site — the map shows Rote Island and its other sites; operators know the mooring.
The dive
Divers follow the rocky reef as it slopes away and choose their own depth, with the slope continuing to a deepest point of 30 m. With current from none to light it can be explored slowly, watching for leaf fish, scorpionfish and moray eels among the rocks.
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 | Fair | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Fair | Fair |
Season follows Rote Island: May to October is the dry high season; November to March brings most of the rain. No month is a peak for the diving itself.
Sources
- Dive Rote Indonesia — Anugerah Surf & Dive Resort
More dive sites in Rote Island
A current-free muck dive at the island's ferry port
A soft-coral slope off Bo'a beach
Reef
Rock formations where sharks and turtles turn up
Channel & pass
A channel where the flow swings from light to strong
Reef
Rote's best bet for reef sharks and seasonal oceanic mantas
A sandy slope with coral bommies off the north tip of Ndao Island
Similar dives elsewhere
Shore-entry house reef from 5 to 30 metres with structures at 15 m
A jukung-only reef of bommies and soft coral away from the crowds
A no-take reef since 1982, with turtles on nearly every dive
The protected shallows where Balicasag's turtles are thickest