The Canyon

Reached from the beach across a shallow sandy lagoon, the Canyon is a long fissure in the seabed, said to have been opened by an earthquake, whose walls almost close overhead to form a tunnel-like cavern. Most recreational divers enter at its widest opening at about 18 to 20 m and sink to the sandy floor at around 30 m, where light falls through the slit above; the crack continues down to about 54 m, a section reserved for technical divers. A hallmark of the site is the curtain of exhaled air bubbles rising through the reef from divers below, and a dense school of glassfish lives near the old upper exit, a coral dome called the fishbowl that may no longer be swum through because it has partly collapsed. The dive usually returns along the drop-off to a colourful coral garden at about 5 to 10 m with anthias, lionfish and octopus, while barracuda and trevally often hang above the canyon. Going inside suits advanced or deep-trained divers, and others can enjoy the canyon from above at about 18 m.