Favourite Dives: Seaview
Located a short distance off the shore at the edge of Tyrell Bay, Seaview is a wonderful site for those divers who love to look for all the little creatures and enjoy spending long relaxing dives exploring a bustling coral reef: simple navigation, gentle conditions and a maximum depth of 12m / 40 ft, make this dive a favourite for macro life spotters and underwater photographers.
Maximum depth: 12m / 40 ft. Level: Easy, relaxing
We start our dive from the boat, meeting at the mooring line, which takes us down onto the sea grass. Depth here is around 8 m. The sea grass is a great place to find snake eels, fire worms, magnificent urchins, and, if we are lucky, maybe some magnificent urchins or a flying gurnard or two!
The reef itself is shaped like a giant cinnamon bun, oval (-ish) and rising in the centre to just 5 m / 15 ft below the surface. I like to start the dive by keeping the rise of the reef on our right hand side – rocks and reef outcrops can be found a little further out, and often sand tilefish and flounders linger on the edges where the reef meets the sea grass.
The astonishing thing about Seaview is the variety of marine life, packed into a fairly small area. Frequently we see 6 or more kinds of eel during our dive, a multitude of shrimp, scorpionfish and octopus, as well as big schools of sergeant majors, grunts, snappers and many filefish. In the past we have also seen frogfish and seahorses there, but not in a long time unfortunately… still, we hope to see them again some day!
My favourite creatures at Seaview are the striped cleaner shrimp. They have the cutest dance, advertising their services. Take a look at this spotted moray, receiving some beauty care.
Making a full circle around the reef usually takes around 30 minutes or so (depending on who you are diving with!), then we are ready to explore the inner layers and crevices of the reef. Here we find a profusion of redlip blennies, small eels (like the goldentail, chain and chestnut morays) and evidence of octopus activity. People often ask me how we find octopus, as they hide so well during the day time – the trick is to look for the pile of discarded shells that decorates the doorstep of the octopus’ hidey hole – the fresher the shells, the more likely you will find your octopus in residence. Best times to see them are during the months when the water is warmest (September/October).
We finish our dive with a safety stop in the shallows above the reef. No sitting in mid-water required – this is time we can spend examining the top of the reef, and often a 3 minute stop turns in 10 minutes, as we linger to watch a favourite creature go about its daily life.
Dives at Seaview typically last around 50 minutes but requests for 60 or 70 minute dives are not unusual, as we are less limited by air and no deco time at this site. Due to its shallow depth and gentle conditions, Seaview is suitable for all levels of divers, and it’s wide variety an sheer volume of marine life makes it one of my favourite relaxing dives.
About the author: Alex is an instructor and owner at Deefer Diving in Carriacou. She loves long relaxing reef dives, looking for macro life and is a keen underwater photographer.
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