Humboldt Current Cold Reef
Dive site
Unlike tropical reefs built by scleractinian corals, this rocky reef system is structured by cold-water coralline algae, giant barnacles, and encrusting invertebrates sustained by the Humboldt upwelling. Visibility fluctuates wildly with upwelling pulses, but when the current delivers clean water the reef comes alive with species that exist nowhere else in the Pacific: knife jaws, Peruvian grunt schools, and thick beds of algae covering every surface. A genuinely unusual reef experience.
Conditions
Depth
8 to 25 m
Open water and up
Current
Often strong
Can pick up on the edge
Visibility
3 to 12 m
Clearest in the calm season
Water
12 to 21°C
Drysuit
Month by month
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water (°C) | 16 | 16 | 17 | 16 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
| Vis (m) | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Current | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Strong | Strong | Strong | Strong | Strong | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate |
Your chances of seeing each animal
Knife jaw
Sometimes
About 1 in 3 dives
Peruvian grunt
Sometimes
About 1 in 3 dives
Starfish (Heliaster)
Sometimes
About 1 in 3 dives
Coralline algae crust
Sometimes
About 1 in 3 dives
Field journal
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