Page 373 - Melanesia
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EMPERORS GARDEN: A very colorful coral         gradual slope to water no deeper than 15         and manta ray. On the southern side of the
slope. Plate, table, staghorn, elkhorn and     meters. This site is also well known for its     reef, colorful soft coral grow. Many feather
lace corals cascade down the slope in a        excellent display of marine life and great       stars and coral formations decorate the top
plethora of color and shapes. There is a       visibility. Ideal for all level divers. Makes a  of the reef. Numerous small coral fish add
wide selection of reef fish, but numbers       great night dive.                                to the enjoyment of this dive. The wall bot-
are a little bit lower than some of the other                                                   toms out at 25 meters, then drops slowly
reefs, as locals do fish from shore. The true  GHOST TRAIN: a journey through a naturally       away to deeper depths. Good visibility at
feature of this dive is the hot spring bub-    formed volcanic tunnel. When the light           20 meters + is normal for this dive. There
bling up from the ocean floor. Look for the    reappears get ready for some fantastically       are some currents during certain tides. Max
brown patches in the sand and move your        beautiful soft coral life. Nudibranchs, Ghost    Depth: 25 meters.
hands above them very slowly for a remark-     pipefish, Goby shrimps, sponges and sea
able experience. The slope bottoms out at      squirts. With the close proximity to shore       HANGOVER REEF: Colorful reef featuring
around 22m and then drops slowly away          and predominately sandy bottom, visibility       an abundance of large intact table corals,
to deeper depths. A chance to try and spot     does tend to average around 4 – 6 meters,        clams, sponges, clusters of multi colored
some white tip reef sharks, tuna and blue      so best done with no swell or recent rain-       Stag and Elkhorn corals and a variety of
spotted trevally. Max Depth: 20 meters.        fall. Max Depth: 22 meters.                      bright encrusting corals. Another exciting
                                                                                                feature is the numerous swim throughs
FILA ISLAND REEF: Explore live coral and       GOTHAM CITY: Named for its batfish which         with white sandy bottoms and sunlight
small tropical fish just 15 minutes from the   accompany you on your dive, a very color-        streaming through the cracks in the reef
dive base. Depth is 6 to 15 meters. Situated   ful and popular reef area which rises to         above. Max depth: 20 meters.
swimming distance from shore. Here you         within 6m of the surface. A large variety of
will find a beautiful coral decorated reef     marine life abounds from sharks, barracuda,
that starts in shallow waters and follows a    and dog tooth tuna to the occasional turtle
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