Beqa Lagoon has been called “The Soft Coral Capital of the World” for its abundant soft corals and marine life. From the smallest critters to the large pelagic species, everything can be found while coral and wreck diving. Seek and you shall find.
With over 30 sites to choose from there is something for everyone in the crystal waters of Beqa Lagoon.
Soft Coral/Wreck Dives are offered at different areas in the Beqa Lagoon.
- Wed, Sun (morning trip)
- Mon, Tue, Thu & Fri (afternoon trip)
Procedures
- All divers are required to attend the Boat Safety Briefing and Dive Site Briefing
- Return to dive boat with a minimum of 500 PSI / 35 Bar
- All dives are No Decompression dives
- All divers are required to have a BCD with auto inflate, octopus, depth gauge and a spg
- All divers are required to complete a Safety Stop after every dive
Dive Sites
Ceasar’s Rock
Named after the local village Chief, Caesar’s Rock is a cluster of 5 current swept pinnacles rising up from 30m/100ft to 5m/15ft of the surface. When the is current running, the soft corals are insanely vibrant, feeding on the nutrients that sweep past. Enormous sea fans grab their breakfast by filtration whilst providing much appreciated shelter to rogue Lionfish. A Y-shaped passage runs through one of the pinnacles and light pouring in from the ends creates a silhouette of the corals inside causing them to glow like an underwater forest at dusk. *This site requires flat seas and slack tide conditions in order to be safe to dive.
7 Sisters
A network of seven separate pinnacles make up the ‘sisters’. Weaving your way between the pinnacles you will discover both soft corals and an abundance of marine life. A glorious symphony of reef fish, turtles and white tip reef sharks await you in the shallower depths of 5m/16ft to 10m/32ft. Venture down deeper to 25m/82ft and explore the Tasu II wreck where lionfish, pipefish and nudibranch have created their own sanctuary on the 30 year old long line fishing vessel. The wreck is surrounded by a sandy bottom where you can play peek-a-boo with a colony of garden eels. The final ‘sister’ pinnacle has a longer swim-through where you enter at 14m/45ft and exit at 8m/26ft in the middle of all the pinnacles, a truly beautiful site!
Carpet Cove
A favourite site of our staff and clients, Carpet Cove has the best of both worlds. This dive site features brilliant soft corals and a fabulous wreck. The wreck, is an old fishing vessel (30m/100ft) which was intentionally sunk at 30m/100ft back in 1996 in order to provide a habitat for a diversity of marine life. The wreck itself is overgrown with blooming soft corals, and sports its own security rotation of guard fish. Here schools of Chevron Barracuda and Trevally take their jobs seriously and keep a watchful look out in turns. If that doesn’t wow you enough, exploring the towering pinnacles adjacent to the wreck will. These two pinnacles rise up to the surface 3m/10ft like ocean watchtowers and they are bursting with life.
E.T. / Cyclops
This site features a lone pinnacle towering up from the seabed. The pinnacle is bedazzled with rainbow coloured corals which function as marine camouflage concealing Blue Ribbon Eels, Lionfish and Reef Octopus. An 18m/60ft long passage through the pinnacle provides refuge for an array of invertebrates. Prepare to be mesmerised. As you swim through the pinnacle, sunlight cascades through a chimney-like opening giving everything an ethereal glow. While on the mooring line, watch for the Clownfish playing hide-n-seek in their host anemones, and search for Scorpionfish blending expertly into their surroundings. *This site requires the flat seas and slack tide conditions in order to be safe to dive.
Swim-Through City / Bird Island
This dive site is an instructor favourite. This site is a little easier to dive and divers have a chance to explore a number of swim-throughs, hard coral encrusted pinnacles and luscious gorgonian sea fans. The site itself is located in an area of Bird Island that is protected from strong currents and ocean swells. The setting is way more chill but don’t believe us, just watch how the locals do it! Whitetip Reef Sharks, Hawksbill Turtles and sometimes Spotted Eagle Rays can all be spotted cruising in and between the pinnacles like its a Sunday afternoon. If you have a Macro fetish you won’t be disappointed. Small critters like nudibranchs, guard crabs and flatworms can all be discovered with careful exploration. You can easily spend an hour just under the boat, or surrender yourself to our guides and venture to the other exciting areas of this vast reef.
Turtle Head
This magical dive site is made up of a mixture of pinnacles and rolling reef, all of which are accessible for exploration. This dive site is also known for some special visitors, yup you guessed it, turtles! Drop onto the site at about 12m and follow your trusted dive guide. You will travel past the golden arch then onward to the leafy scorpionfish pinnacle and then end your adventure on top of the reef around 6m/20ft. Here in the shallows it’s ‘critter central’ so get into inspection mode and find some little critters hiding in the branching corals, sea fans and anemones. Most of the time this site is protected from current so you have the option of exploration all the way from Turtle Head to Three Nuns staying shallower than 20m/65ft.
3 Nuns
This amazing dive site is made up of three distinctive pinnacles ‘the nuns’ that rise up from the 19m/62ft bottom to about 4m/13ft from the surface. You can happily spend an entire hour exploring these pinnacles, there is just so much to see. When the visibility is favorable, you have the option to venture off to the mini reef pinnacles surrounding ‘the nuns’. Here, you can spot Whitetip Reef Sharks taking a siesta, Grey Reef Sharks patrolling and sometimes even the elusive Zebra Shark makes a cameo appearance. This dive site is perfect for intrepid buddy teams who want to create their own adventure, as finding your way back to the mooring line super easy, and you can sight-see along the way!
Wreck Dive Sites
Tasu II
The Tasu II is a decommissioned long line fishing vessel purposefully sunk on the sandy bottom at the ‘Seven Sisters’ dive site in the late 1990’s. She is about 30m/100′ from bow to stern lying upright on her keel in about 28m/90′ of water next to the coral pinnacles that make up the Seven Sisters. Having been submerged for so many years, a good growth of soft corals covers the wreck. Very rarely swept by strong currents, the Tasu II is an ideal site for getting in some good bottom time on a wreck. Look for a school of chevron barracuda circling above the wreck and groupers hiding out inside the superstructure. With a keen eye, lucky divers can spot pipefish wriggling their way across the deck and up the sides of the ship. After exploring the wreck, make your way back to a maze of seven towering pinnacles. Zebra Sharks can frequently be found resting on the sand just out from the pinnacles and for divers that want to chillax, nestle yourself down in the sand between the pinnacles and let a cloud of butterfly fish move in and give you an ‘express clean’.
Rusi’s Pinnacle
Without a doubt, Rusi’s Pinnacle is the favourite dive site of all the staff. Lying upright on the seabed in a depth of 32m/110ft lies the largest of the wrecks in Beqa Lagoon. Measuring about 40m/140ft in length and made of two decks, this old fishing vessel is home to an amazing diversity of life. Scuttled in 2000, after two decades there is an incredible coverage of soft corals smothered in brittle sea stars. The top deck railing is home to a pair of giant frogfish, but keep your eyes pealed because its challenging to spot them with their camouflage capabilities. Blanketed in a kaleidoscope of colour, this pinnacle is home to a multitude of stonefish, lion fish, leaf scorpionfish and moray eels. The top of the pinnacle is carpeted with 5 different species of anemone fish with their different host anemones. Have some fun on your safety stop watching these fish dart in and out, launching an offensive and challenging anyone who ventures close to their anemone home.
Carpet Cove
A favourite site of our staff and practically everyone who dives with us, Carpet Cove features not only brilliant soft corals but also an amazing wreck. This old fishing vessel (30m/100ft) was intentionally sunk at 30m/100ft in 1996, in order to provide a habitat for a diversity of marine life. The wreck itself is overgrown with blooming soft corals, and features its own fish guard rotation. Keeping a watchful lookout are glorious schools of Chevron Barracuda and Trevally. It that doesn’t wow you enough, exploring the towering pinnacles adjacent to the wreck will. Like two ocean watchtowers they rise up almost to the surface 3m/15ft and house an abundance of life.
