Page 370 - Melanesia
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BIG DIPPER: While maximum depth at Big Dipper is 22 meters, the reef lar flowing staghorn cascading down to the white sandy bottom. Don’t
top is located at a depth of only ten meters. All along the plateau’s top forget to look out for the little critters too: Nudibranchs, anemone shrimp
and its walls, you’ll find a vast forest of hard corals, including huge plate and porcelain crabs.
corals and magnificent brain corals, along with some gigantic barrel BONZER (CLOWN COLONY) WRECK - A small tug boat which had been
sponges that host smaller creatures inside. Along with swathes of colorful left abandoned at Havana Harbor for 6 years. Towed to Port Vila in 2001,
reef fish and an endless parade of crustaceans, the reef is teeming with cleaned and sunk 2001 at Hideaway Island near a dive site called Clown
nudibranchs and is also home to some larger marine life, including the Colony, named so for its large bommie covered in anemones and their
occasional white tip reef shark. An excellent multi-level site, Big Dipper is resident clownfish. Bonzer sits upright in 24 meters of water and is a good
suitable for all divers. wreck for experienced and novice wreck divers alike, featuring easy swim-
throughs. A large number of banded shrimp have made the Bonzer their
BLACKSANDS CAVES: An incredible site that lets you get up close and home. A shallow swim back to the mooring completes this interesting
personal with what was once an active geothermal area, Blacksands Caves dive. Max depth: 24 meters.
is a series of wide lava tubes located at a depth of 20 meters. Beautifully
lit from above, thanks to a massive crack in the ceiling, the caves have EAST SIDE STORY: Twin Sister to West Side Story, this dive starts of nice and
two entry and exit points, and outside, enormous bommies covered with shallow in about 8 meters of water and takes you on an extremely relaxing
hard and soft coral, and wreathed in lush anemones where clownfish and flight over a great variety of branching staghorn and plate hard corals with
transparent shrimp make their homes await exploration. In the sand near the occasional bright soft coral tucked away beneath the numerous ledges
the base of the bommies, you can find blue spotted stingrays and the oc- and ravines. Some beautiful anemones and characteristic clownfish make
casional little shark, and the water around them is brimming with tropical themselves quite at home on this reef. There is also a great selection of
fish in a swirling and never ending array of color. batfish, butterflyfish, angelfish and damsels. A perfect dive whenever you
need to “Chill”. Max Depth: 20 meters.
BOUGANVILLIA: This reef dive features a flat reef 12 to 14 m deep with
colorful corals and anemones. The reef then drops to 30 m with spectacu- 2
