Dive Site Mountain of Fishes

The "Mountain of Fishes" is about 30 minutes by boat from the harbor. This reef in the open sea rises from a depth of over 50m to 8m below the surface. Since this reef lies about 2km offshore, it is completely unprotected and there is almost always current and swell.

The upper reef head is at a depth of 8m. On the east side, the reef drops vertically to 37m. On the west side, it descends in terraces to a depth of 45m. The terraces are located at depths of 12m, 16m, and 22m. The anchor is placed in a 1m-wide gap at a depth of 12m. This can sometimes take some time, but it is the only way to ensure that the anchor is not pulled off the reef. The current is always perpendicular to the reef, either east-west or west-east. If you dive down the anchor line, you will initially hang over a 50m-deep blue void. As you clamber along the anchor rope, the wall of the reef slowly comes into view, towering majestically before you.

From the anchor, we dive around the reef clockwise or counterclockwise, depending on the current at the time. On the upstream side, krill and other food are carried in by the current, which is why schools of sardines and predatory fish like barracuda and mackerel are found on this side. You can dive very deep here, but open water divers can also join in separate groups. The terraces also make it possible to dive around this reef shallowly.

The entire reef is much larger than shown on the map. To the north, it continues and forms the "Black Mountain," which is accessed as a separate dive site.

Here we always find large schools of bream and sardines, hunted by barracudas, groupers, mackerel, and tuna. Trumpetfish, glasseyes, slipper lobsters, anemones, and moray eels can be found in the crevices and overhangs.