St. Eustatius · Caribbean Netherlands · Reef
Hangover
A coral-grown lava labyrinth in 10 to 17 m of water
Area photo: SV Zanshin · CC BY-SA 3.0
An old lava flow encrusted with coral and sponge, dived as a labyrinth of ridges and gaps rather than a single reef line. Golden Rock lists the site at 10 to 15 m and Scubaqua at 17 m, and between them they name sharks, turtles, rays and queen conch on the one hand and jawfish, flounders and angelfish on the other.
Also known as Hangover Reef.
Where it is and how deep
17.4637° N, 62.9832° WPublished position for this site.
The dive
The ground here is ancient lava rather than built reef, and it reads as a maze: fingers and ridges of old flow standing proud, gaps and channels between them, all of it overgrown with healthy coral and sponge. Golden Rock lists the site at 10 to 15 m and Scubaqua at 17 m, so on either figure the dive is spent following the rock rather than watching a computer.
Working the labyrinth slowly is what the site pays for. Jawfish, flounders and angelfish are what Scubaqua names on the flow, and they are small enough that the divers who see them are the ones moving at half speed. Golden Rock's list runs bigger, with sharks, turtles and rays over the lava and queen conch out on the open ground, which is why the shallow finish can be as productive as anything deeper.
Marine life and season
- Sea turtles
- Macro critters
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Good | Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Prime |
Season follows St. Eustatius: December to April is the drier stretch; August and September carry the hurricane peak, and diving may pause in September.
Questions divers ask
How deep is the Hangover dive site?+
Golden Rock lists it at 10 to 15 m and Scubaqua at 17 m, shallow enough that both run it as a beginner dive with a long bottom time.
What will you see at Hangover?+
Coral and sponge growing over an old lava flow, with jawfish, flounders and angelfish on the rock, plus the sharks, turtles, rays and queen conch that Golden Rock lists for the site.
Sources
- Dive Sites at St. Eustatius — Golden Rock Dive Center
- St. Eustatius Dive Sites — Scubaqua
- Hangover - Dive Site — PADI
More dive sites in St. Eustatius
Reef
A coral-covered French anchor of the 1750s, hooked into the reef
Reef
Barracuda over a volcanic mini-wall, in groups of five to twenty
Reef
A small coral island with a vertical wall, to 19 m
Muck & macro
Seventeenth-century Dutch beads in the sand at 17 m
Wreck
A 100 m cable layer with a 40 m cable corridor through her hull
Wreck
A 52 m Taiwanese trawler, top at 15 m and seabed at 27 m
Reef
Ballast fused into the shape of a ship, and two anchors at 18 m
Wall
An almost vertical drop at the island's southern tip
Similar dives elsewhere
A boulder archway swim-through, taken in single file
A strong south-to-north drift over shallow reef, to 17 m
Up to ten reef sharks over a 15 m patch reef
From 1.5 m to 18 m over coral, boulders and sand