St. Kitts · Saint Kitts and Nevis · Reef
Anchors Away
More than a dozen colonial anchors on a single dive
Anchors Away is a reef below Brimstone Hill on the leeward coast of St. Kitts, where the sea bed is scattered with anchors from the 17th and 18th centuries. Ships abandoned them when they had to leave in a hurry under cannon fire from the fortress above, and some of them may have been used only once.
Also known as Anchors Aweigh.
Where it is and how deep
17.3469° N, 62.8364° WApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The dive runs between 14 and 20 m (45–65 ft) in mild current, and a 45-minute tour of the bottom passes more than a dozen anchors lying where ships abandoned them. Coral fingers and sandy channels cover the sea floor, and some anchors are so overgrown with sponges and corals that they are hard to pick out. Frogfish, pike blennies and pufferfish hide on the reef, while mackerel and jacks pass by.
Marine life and season
- Frogfish
- Trevally & jacks
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Prime |
Season follows St. Kitts: December to May is the dry, busy season; June to November is hurricane season, wettest around September.
Dive videos
Dive at Anchors Aweigh Reef, St. Kitts Island, Caribbean. · Yeah Baby SCUBA Adventures on YouTube
Night Dive at Anchors Aweigh Reef, St. Kitts Island, Caribbean. · Yeah Baby SCUBA Adventures on YouTube
Sources
- Dive Sites | Kenneth's Dive Center — Kenneth's Dive Center
- Diving St Kitts — Dive the World
More dive sites in St. Kitts
Reef
Coral formations sloping from 15 m (50 ft) to 40 m (130 ft)
Reef
Creviced volcanic reef cut by sandy channels
Reef
Nurse and reef sharks along a sloping reef and wall
Wreck
A tug standing upright in sand, ringed by reef
Pristine hard coral ringed by sand strips to 37 m (120 ft)
Huge coral-covered rocks under the Nags Head cliff
Healthy corals on a mini wall just past Brimstone Hill
Wreck
An upright freighter crusted in corals and sponges
Similar dives elsewhere
Up to ten reef sharks over a 15 m patch reef
Pillar and black coral at 21 m with pelagics passing through
Sheltered fringing reef with a sponge-covered wall
Permit cruising over coral heads on open sand