Johnny's Gorge — Havelock Island

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Hotels, dive operators, gear, and how to get here are on the Havelock Island location page.

Overview

Open-water deep dive 18-19 km east of Havelock Island (Swaraj Dweep), named for the divemaster who first explored it. The bottom sits between 28 and 34 m on low-lying rocky outcrops stitched together by huge barrel sponges, gorgonian fans, and soft coral. White-tip reef sharks are the headline — they cruise sand channels between the rocks and often rest motionless in pairs while divers drift overhead. Big-fish density is the second draw: dense schools of Andaman sweetlips, bluefin and giant trevally, dogtooth tuna, queenfish, barracuda, and large grouper hold position in the lee of the structure. Eagle rays pass through and the site sees occasional dolphins. Currents shift quickly with the tide and the depth chops visibility below 16 m, so this is firmly advanced-only.

Briefing note

Advanced Open Water with deep training is the working minimum — most operators require it plus a confirmed AOW logbook entry. Foreign nationals no longer need a separate Restricted Area Permit (RAP) for Havelock but must carry passport; the older RAP rule was lifted in 2022. Site is closed during the southwest monsoon (roughly mid-May through mid-September) when surface swell and silt make the run unsafe. Do not touch the giant barrel sponges — some are estimated at over 1,000 years old and break easily.

What you'll see

10 species curated

Whitetip reef shark
year-round
Giant trevally
year-round
Bluefin trevally
year-round
Andaman sweetlips
year-round
Dogtooth tuna
year-round
Great barracuda
year-round
Giant grouper
year-round
Eagle ray
seasonal
Peak: Dec · Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr
Queenfish
year-round
Napoleon wrasse
rare

Sightings evidence

1 record on file

Whitetip reef shark
high confidence
Last confirmed
Apr 2026
Recent records
130 within 10 km

Sources & methodology

How we summarise this

We aggregate confirmed occurrence records from GBIF and OBIS within a fixed radius of each dive site. Occurrence records confirm presence and reveal seasonality clustering, but they DO NOT measure per-dive probability — there is no eligible-effort denominator. We deliberately do not publish a numeric '% chance of sighting' from this data.

Sources

Global Biodiversity Information Facility — GBIF Secretariat
Ocean Biodiversity Information System — IOC-UNESCO
iNaturalist — California Academy of Sciences & National Geographic Society
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — International Union for Conservation of Nature
Wildbook (Sharkbook, Whale Shark, Manta Matcher) — Wild Me
OBIS-SEAMAP — Duke University Marine Geospatial Ecology Lab / OBIS
WoRMS — World Register of Marine Species — Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ)
FishBase — FishBase Consortium
Atlas of Living Australia — CSIRO / GBIF Australia
REEF Volunteer Fish Survey — Reef Environmental Education Foundation

Conditions

Month	Water	Visibility	Current
Jan	26–28 °C	20–30 m	moderate
Feb	27–29 °C	25–35 m	moderate
Mar	28–30 °C	25–35 m	moderate
Apr	28–30 °C	20–30 m	moderate
May	28–30 °C	15–25 m	moderate
Jun	27–29 °C	10–15 m	strong
Jul	27–29 °C	8–12 m	strong
Aug	27–29 °C	8–12 m	strong
Sep	27–29 °C	10–15 m	strong
Oct	27–29 °C	15–20 m	moderate
Nov	26–28 °C	20–30 m	moderate
Dec	26–28 °C	20–30 m	moderate

Season calendar

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Peak season highlighted · current month outlined

Gear for this site

Beyond the basic kit

Dive light or torch — At 30-34 m, ambient light drops sharply and the overhangs where sharks rest are dim — a primary torch helps with shark ID and gorgonian colour.
Nitrox cert + EAN32 fills — Bottom time at 28-30 m on air is short; EAN32 stretches no-deco limits and is offered by all Havelock operators with advance booking.

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