San Salvador · Bahamas · Wall
Black Forest
Overhanging cliff hung with black coral trees and deep-water gorgonians
Area photo: James St. John · CC BY 2.0
Black Forest is a wall off the south end of Sandy Point, thirty-five minutes by boat from the Riding Rock marina. A straight, often overhanging cliff falls from 12 m (40 ft) to 49 m (160 ft), hung with black coral trees, deep-water gorgonians and elephant ear sponges, and sharks are often seen.
Where it is and how deep
23.9434° N, 74.5727° WApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The boat anchors in 12 m (40 ft) on mixed sand and coral. The wall is a straight cliff from 12 to 49 m (40 to 160 ft), overhanging in many places, and several big tunnels and crevices run through it to open on the face at 27 to 30 m (90 to 100 ft). Two smaller crevices near the anchorage lead through the wall, and the frequent current around the end of the island feeds heavy coral growth on the top.
Divers cross the sand and drop into the first crevice heading for the drop-off, turn left on leaving it over the wall, and swim along at 30 m (100 ft), scanning out and down. Further west, past a small tunnel, a huge cut about 18 m (60 ft) across with a bottom at 34 m (110 ft) leads back into the wall and splits in two on the way up. Divers ascend through it to the wall top and swim east to the boat.
Deep-water gorgonians, black coral trees and elephant ear sponges hang off the side of the wall. Visibility is generally excellent, there is usually plenty of fish activity, and sharks are often seen. Black Forest is usually the first dive of the day when conditions allow it.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good | Good | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good |
Season follows San Salvador: Hammerheads are seen in the cooler winter months; June to November is the Bahamas hurricane season, when rain storms are expected.
Know before you go
- French Bay is generally rough and is not on the lee side of the island, so dives here run only when weather and sea conditions allow.
Dive videos
Episode 20 - Black Forest · Don Stark on YouTube
Questions divers ask
How deep is the Black Forest wall?+
The wall is a straight cliff from 12 m (40 ft) down to 49 m (160 ft), and the usual route runs along it at 30 m (100 ft).
Sources
- Black Forest | Riding Rock Resort & Marina — Riding Rock Resort & Marina
More dive sites in San Salvador
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Three crevices and a lone coral head shaped like a claw
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A keyhole tunnel through a split-off ridge, marked by hanging rope sponges
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A crevice over 60 m (200 ft) long, branching into caves and tunnels
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A chimney-like vertical cave dropping into a crevice out over the wall
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A straight cliff to 30 m (100 ft) two minutes from the marina
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Hammerheads occasionally swim parallel to the wall above the deep ledge
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Sharks seen off the deep wall or over the 24 m (80 ft) plateau
Approachable schools of grunts and squirrelfish on a shallow photo reef
Similar dives elsewhere
An undercut amphitheater in the wall, lipped with black coral
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A sloping wall dived between 18 m and 34 m
Near-continuous schools of grunts and snappers on the wall top
Black coral under an overhang at 21 to 27 m