Dissei Island — North Wall

The northern face of Dissei Island drops as a near-vertical wall from a shallow coral terrace at 6 metres to sand at around 40 metres. Because this reef has seen almost no diving pressure in decades, the coral cover is exceptional: table corals, branching Acropora, and massive Porites heads compete for space along the wall, and the fish biomass is visibly higher than in comparable Red Sea reefs further north. Large grouper are unconcerned by divers. Sea turtles are permanent residents. At depth the wall features small overhangs draped in soft corals and sponges, with moray eels resting in every crevice.