Shark Point, Selayar

The run out from Pattumbukan Harbour takes 20 minutes. What is underneath is a sand slope with reef broken through it, and the sharks are deep: the site's own description puts the working maximum between 30 and 40 m, so the dive is planned around a short window at depth rather than a long cruise along a face. Everything else about the shape of it depends on the water.

Current runs anywhere from mild to strong, and the plan sometimes calls for a combination profile — drift one way, then work back against it — so the direction you swim is decided on the day rather than fixed in advance. Whitetip and blacktip reef sharks are what the depth buys you. Napoleon wrasse and turtles work the reef, while dogtooth and yellowfin tuna, barracuda and schooling jacks hold off the slope in the blue.

Logged conditions run 15 to 30 m of visibility, best in May and June, in water of 26 to 29°C. Beyond that the site is thinly documented: there is no published mooring, no described route across the slope and no operator account of where the sharks tend to be, so the briefing you get on the boat matters more here than anything you can read beforehand.