Black Rock Reef
Body of Water:
Caribbean Sea
Max Depth: 21m
GPS Coordinates
Lat: 19.35635
Lon: -81.105033
When the captain announces Black Rock Reef, watch the reactions of our regular divers as their faces light up – it's a popular dive site!
Sitting a short distance closer to shore than its sister site Black Rock Drop-Off, this area offers a beautiful combination of sandy channels, rolling coral gardens, shallow hardpan, and freestanding coral heads separated by narrow channels. The area right below the boat is where the most action happens. The low ridges and coral heads attract large schools of fish such as Bermuda Chubb, Yellowtail Snapper, Barracudas, and countless more. Look under the overhanging ledges at the bottom at around 45 – 50 feet for lobsters, crabs, shrimp, and other little critters.
A short swim to the north brings you to the rolling coral gardens. Look for a resident school of color-changing Caribbean Reef Squid. They swim in formation in the water column and will warn you off getting any closer by turning vibrant white and waving their tentacles in a defensive display. Further north still, you will see a vast expanse of sand fading into the deep blue of the wall. There is a giant barrel sponge on the long coral ridge that comes down from the shallows. This sponge is impressive in its size and the way it clings to the rock, looking like it could fall at any time.