Great Basses

Également connu sous le nom de : Great Basses Reef

The Great Basses is the high point of the Basses Ridge, a limestone formation about 40 km long off the south-east coast of Sri Lanka, marked by a 37 m granite lighthouse built by the British in the late 19th century. Constant wave action has shaped the rock into ravines, pillars, caves, gullies and swim-throughs, and the sandy floor is furrowed into ridges by the surge. Divers report white tip and grey sharks, eagle rays, giant trevally, groupers, Napoleon wrasse and big shoals of snappers and fusiliers, with turtles resting under ledges. The surge can push a diver several metres back and forth, so the dive gets more dangerous the shallower it goes and staying below about six metres is advised. The reef is also the scene of Arthur C. Clarke's 1961 silver coin find, described in his book The Treasure of the Great Reef.