[Previous entry: "Green Sawfish .........rare creature of a past era."] [Next entry: "Wall-to-wall coral reef .........under the surf zone."]
21/10/2004: "Coral Garden .........in sheltered waters"
Coral reefs have two sides, one rugged and the other calm. The rugged side has hard-packed corals while in the sheltered 'other side' of the reef the coral formations are like those above.
The sheltered side may have a calm lagoon. Boats anchor here and this is where most people swim and dive. Anchoring on the weather-side is not a usual practice, although ocean visibility can be best, and this is where we find the sharks.
A compromise is to dive at the top or bottom tips of reefs - where lagoon meets weather-side. But this is for strong swimmers only, consequently most divers only get to see the calm lagoon waters.
