Turks & Caicos · Turks & Caicos Islands · Wall · Reef
Aquarium
Near-continuous schools of grunts and snappers on the wall top
Area photo: SNORKELINGDIVES.COM · CC BY 2.0
A Grace Bay wall where enormous schools of grunts and snappers form an almost continuous body along the top of the drop-off. Below them the wall is an exaggerated spur-and-groove formation, with sand chutes running down through the coral reef to a depth of around 30 m.
Where it is and how deep
21.7998° N, 72.1887° WApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
Grace Bay boats run 15 to 20 minutes out from Turtle Cove to the barrier reef, and the shallows at this end of it are more varied than on some other stretches. Drop onto the reef top and the first thing you meet is fish: enormous schools of grunts and snappers, forming an almost continuous school along the lip of the wall, thick enough that the coral behind them comes and goes as they shift.
The wall below is spur-and-groove, and exaggerated — coral ridges standing out from the face with sand chutes cut between them, running down through the reef to around 30 m. Follow one chute down, work back along the face and climb another, which keeps you off the open blue and gives the dive a shape. At 30 m the deep leg is short, so plan it first and spend what is left of the dive back up on the wall top with the schools.
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 | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Good |
Season follows Turks & Caicos: January–April brings calm seas and the humpback whale migration through the Turks Island Passage; September–October is peak hurricane season.
Questions divers ask
How deep is the Aquarium dive site?+
The sand chutes cut down through the coral reef to a depth of around 30 m, which makes it an advanced-level profile. The schooling fish that give the site its character are shallow, on top of the wall.
Sources
- Dive Sites — Dive Provo — Dive Provo
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