Page 483 - Melanesia

GATOKAE ISLAND

CHARAPAE: A reef and rainforest point dive off KICHA WHITE WALL: A vast overhanging rock

Bulo Island. Descend along a series of overhangs face completely covered with shade-loving white

and caves packed with life. Drift around the soft corals.. Facing straight out into the deep

deep, vertical point covered in fans, corals and ocean, keep an eye out for grey reef and silvertip

invertebrates. Hanging off the point are large sharks, dogtooth tuna and spanish mackerel.

schools of fish. Silvertips and hammerheads may Ascend along the bluffs and canyons to a dip in

come in to check you out. A deep cleft cuts back the reef edge, home a large school of barracuda

into the rainforest. End the dive on a rich coral interspersed with hundreds of equally curious

wall with overhanging rainforest canopy. Depth: surgeonfish, midnight snapper and trevally. On

40+ meters. the exposed southern side of Kicha island, this

dive requires fine weather. Often inaccessible

KICHA WEST POINT: Grey reef sharks, schools of during the June thru September tradewind sea-

surgeonfish and midnight snapper drift along son. Depth: 5 meters – 35 meters.

this coral covered vertical point. Sit in the edge of

the current and watch huge resident schools of MALEMALE WEST POINT: A long drift dive with

bigeye trevally, a procession of spanish mack- several corners allowing you to tuck in out of

erel, dogtooth tuna, barracuda, batfish, turtles the current and check out the deep clefts and

(all the big stuff ) - occasionally silvertip sharks, overhangs full of life - massive fans and the

hammerheads, even sailfish and a lot of nervous richest soft corals. Lots of pelagic action - sharks,

fusileers. Depth: 5 meters – 40 meters. barracuda, spanish mackerel, trevally, and some

of the biggest dogtooth tuna.