Union Island & the Tobago Cays · Saint Vincent and the Grenadines · Reef · Wall
Horseshoe Reef
Nurse sharks asleep under the ledges of the Tobago Cays barrier reef
Photo: Stefan Schäfer, Lich · CC BY-SA 4.0
Horseshoe Reef is the barrier reef that surrounds and protects four of the five Tobago Cays inside the Tobago Cays Marine Park. It is one of the most popular dive sites in the park, offering both a protected shallow side and a deeper drop-off, with sharks resting under its ledges.
Also known as Horseshoe.
Where it is and how deep
12.6320° N, 61.3550° WApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The reef can be dived on either side: the protected, shallow inside facing the cays, or the deeper and more dramatic drop-off on the outside. At 18 m (60 ft) numerous soft and hard corals cover the reef, and sand sharks and nurse sharks lie sleeping under the ledges.
Marine life and season
- Reef sharks
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Prime |
Season follows Union Island & the Tobago Cays: December to April is the dry high season; rain falls from May to November, and hurricanes threaten from July to October.
Sources
- Scuba Diving with Grenadines Dive — Grenadines Dive
- Diving & Watersports – Dive Sites — Government of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- Tobago Cays — Wikipedia
Photo credits
- Aerial view of two forested islets ringed by pale reef and turquoise shallows, with yachts anchored between them. by Stefan Schäfer, Lich, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
More dive sites in Union Island & the Tobago Cays
One of the two most biodiverse reef areas of the Tobago Cays park, dived as a drift
Caribbean reef sharks and huge lobsters off Petit St. Vincent
Reef
A resort-course reef around one of the five Tobago Cays
Wreck
A 1918 naval trawler turned artificial reef off Mayreau
Similar dives elsewhere
Barracuda over a volcanic mini-wall, in groups of five to twenty
Hundreds of garden eels on the sand below a leeward coral reef
Massive sponges on the drop at 21 m (70 ft)
A small coral island with a vertical wall, to 19 m