St. Eustatius, the area around Blair's Reef

St. Eustatius · Caribbean Netherlands · Reef · Wall

Blair's Reef

A small coral island with a vertical wall, to 19 m

Area photo: SV Zanshin · CC BY-SA 3.0

A small coral island standing off the seabed with a vertical wall on one flank, dived to 19 m and run as an Open Water site. Scubaqua lists it as a macro-rich dive and names lobsters, schools of snapper and grunt, barracuda and hawksbill turtles among what works the island.

Where it is and how deep

Depth profile of Blair's Reef: typical dive to 19 m (to 62 ft) 18 m · Open Water30 m · Advanced40 m · Recreational limit19 mtypical dive
Depths on a shared scale to 40 m (130 ft); dashed lines mark common certification limits.

17.4746° N, 62.9934° WPublished position for this site.

The dive

The feature is a small coral island standing off the bottom with a vertical wall on one flank. Nineteen metres is the maximum depth published for the site, so nothing here is out of reach on a single tank and the whole island can be worked at whatever pace suits you. That depth is also why it is run as an Open Water dive rather than a staged one.

Scubaqua runs it as a macro dive, so pace matters more than distance covered: lobsters and the small life on the coral are what the site is listed for rather than any one big feature. Schools of snapper and grunt, barracuda and hawksbill turtles are the larger animals named here, and at 19 m there is time to lap the island once and then go back over whichever stretch was working.

Marine life and season

  • Barracuda
  • Sea turtles
  • Reef fish swarms
  • Macro critters
Month-by-month season rating for Blair's Reef
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
PrimePrimePrimePrimePrimeGoodGoodFairFairFairGoodPrime

Season follows St. Eustatius: Nov–Jun is calmest with the clearest water; Aug–Oct hurricane season regularly closes the exposed western sites.

Questions divers ask

How deep is Blair's Reef?+

The maximum is 19 m, which keeps the whole site, wall included, inside Open Water limits.

What can you see at Blair's Reef?+

Lobsters, schools of snapper and grunt, barracuda and hawksbill turtles; Scubaqua lists it as a macro-rich site rather than a big-animal one.

Sources

  1. St. Eustatius Dive Sites — Scubaqua
  2. Blair's Reef - Dive Site — PADI

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