St. Eustatius · Caribbean Netherlands · Wall
The Cliffs
Fan-covered vertical walls and creole wrasse past 40 m
Area photo: SV Zanshin · CC BY-SA 3.0
A deep site at the south end of the island built around a drop-off, with vertical walls covered in deep-sea fans and schools of creole wrasse working the face. It is dived past 40 m inside the marine reserve, and Scubaqua lists it for advanced divers only.
Where it is and how deep
17.4602° N, 62.9778° WPublished position for this site.
The dive
The dive is organised around a drop-off, and the wall below it is vertical. Depths go past 40 m, so the descent is the plan: you pick a depth, hold it, and let the face rather than the bottom set the route. The site lies inside the marine reserve at the southern end of the island, next along the coast from Grand Canyon.
Deep-sea fans cover the vertical rock and are the reason to run a light along the face rather than out into the blue. Schools of creole wrasse move over the wall in numbers, and they are what Scubaqua names for the site alongside the fans and the drop-off. The ascent is worked back up the same wall, which gives a staged profile without leaving the feature you came for.
Marine life and season
- Reef fish swarms
| 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 Cliffs on St. Eustatius?+
The wall is dived past 40 m, beyond standard recreational depth, and Scubaqua lists it as an advanced dive.
Sources
- St. Eustatius Dive Sites — Scubaqua
- Cliffs - Dive Site — PADI
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