The coral garden starts right off the beach breaking the surface
with a staghorn coral field and huge schools of fish.
We went to the sloping area covered
with staghorn corals and table corals.
Not exact matches
And the reefs where we snorkeled, their bright
staghorns cracked and bleaching, lobotomized,
with brain
corals stacked like bowling balls among the palm trees...
Extensive thickets of
staghorn corals at Carysfort Reef, approximately 6 nautical miles east of Key Largo, Fla., are gone today and replaced by a structure-less bottom littered
with the decaying skeletons of
staghorn coral.
In Explosion Reef, experience the
staghorn coral, the «nursery» of this dive site that explodes
with the dazzling colors of juvenile fish and marine life.
A fantastic
coral dive
with vast beds of
staghorn and other varieties, and dotted
with colourful giant clams.
Most of the dive sites are pristine
coral reefs
with colorful soft
corals and crinoids, vast
staghorn coral fields and huge table
corals in the shallow parts, giant elephant ears in the deeper parts, giant sponge barrels along the slopes.
These hulking hard -
coral castles are topped
with staghorn, elkhorn and brain
coral growth, and decorated in a colorful array of gorgonians and sponges.
These rock formations are covered
with hard and soft
corals with excellent shelter between
staghorn thickets from predators and curious divers.
A favorite destination is Laughing Bird Caye National Park, which supports large stands of
staghorn and elkhorn
corals, along
with thick growths of tunicates and anemones.
In open areas, tilefish float like ghostly apparitions, guarding the entrance to their hilly burrows piled high
with broken pieces of
staghorn coral.
Large areas of plate
coral with fields of blue
staghorn, schools of Batfish, Giant Maori wrasse, moray eels, and an abundant variety of tropical fish.
Information cards guide the snorkeller through gardens of lettuce, cauliflower, boulder and
staghorn corals teeming
with colourful clownfish and giant clams.
The
coral gardens are alive
with drifting anemone, regal
staghorn, and flower - shaped hedges.
In the shallow water, particularly off the western beach, the
coral cover is nearly solid, mostly
staghorn,
with only a few sandy patches.
Unusual ones are Devil's Claw and Vicky's Reef,
with stingrays and sharks; and French Bay,
with Elkhorn and
staghorn coral.
With a gentle northern current all groups could fully enjoy what the site has to offer, especially the amazing concentration of smaller reef fish of all sorts of colors hovering on top of
staghorn, elkhorn and other species of
coral.
The Maori Wrasse Bommie dive site is in the north western corner of the reef, and includes broken sandy bottom
with small bommies and boulders, plus a large extent of
staghorn coral which seems to be a favourite haunt of the turtles.
The reef - flat features many small boulders of lesser star and brain
corals, interspersed
with clusters of
staghorn corals, all covered in colourful reef - fish like chromis, wrasse, parrotfish and surgeonfish.
Staghorn Crest - At this dive site, you will find yourself beginning with a gentle descent along the drop - off, followed by a gradual diagonal descent along the wall, at the shallow end of which there is a garden of staghorn
Staghorn Crest - At this dive site, you will find yourself beginning
with a gentle descent along the drop - off, followed by a gradual diagonal descent along the wall, at the shallow end of which there is a garden of
staghornstaghorn corals.
There's elkhorn
coral mixed
with staghorn and brain
coral and beautiful fish.