St. John · U.S. Virgin Islands · Reef
Tektite
Reef named after a NASA and Navy underwater research habitat
Photo: OAR/National Undersea Research Program (NURP) · Public domain
Tektite is a fringing reef in Great Lameshur Bay on the south side of St. John. It takes its name from the Tektite underwater research habitat that NASA, the Department of the Interior and the Navy anchored to the seafloor here. Divers and snorkellers both use it, with the reef running out from shore before breaking up into coral heads.
Also known as Tektite Reef.
Where it is and how deep
18.3166° N, 64.7229° WApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The reef runs out from the shore of Great Lameshur Bay to about 15 m (50 ft), where it gives way to isolated coral heads and sand. The habitat that gives the site its name was anchored at the same depth. Snorkellers keep to the shallow reef along the shore, and scuba divers follow it out to the sand edge.
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 | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good |
Season follows St. John: Diving is good any time of year; tarpon school at Carval Rock in spring and early summer, and May to November is the rainy season.
Photos from Tektite
Milo Woodbridge Williams · Public domain
Sources
- Virgin Islands National Park dive sites (NPS Submerged Resources) — National Park Service
- Scuba diving - St John Links — St John Links
Photo credits
- Five scuba divers swim in front of a pale two-cylinder underwater habitat resting above a dark coral bottom, with bubbles rising by OAR/National Undersea Research Program (NURP), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- Dense finger coral heads with several black long-spined sea urchins and dozens of small silver striped fish swimming over them by Milo Woodbridge Williams, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
More dive sites in St. John
Wall
Plate corals below the wall off the south-eastern tip of Congo Point
Pinnacle
The Cathedral, an open coral chamber lit through a skylight
Night dives for lobsters, crabs and octopus after sunset
Similar dives elsewhere
Coral heads standing 8 m off the sand, full of swim-throughs
Coral ridges in north-south lines with sand lanes between
Up to ten reef sharks over a 15 m patch reef
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A coral-covered French anchor of the 1750s, hooked into the reef