Elphinstone — The Saddle

The saddle is the narrow waist of Elphinstone reef at its midpoint, where the reef narrows to about 20 m wide and the plateau depth steps down to 28 m before the two wall systems continue outward. Currents funnel through here and the acceleration creates a highly productive feeding zone: barracuda hold in tight tornadoes, schools of snapper orbit the coral heads, and grey reef sharks cruise through in ones and twos. Oceanic whitetip sharks sometimes enter the saddle zone from either side in autumn. The crossing from east to west wall during a dive gives a rare double-wall experience on a single tank. Less visited than the two tips, the saddle rewards mid-dive navigation skill.