Mona Island Offshore Reef Reserve
Dive site
Forty miles offshore in the Mona Passage, Mona Island is Puerto Rico's most remote and pristine dive destination. No permanent residents, no runoff — just steep walls plunging past 40 metres, intact staghorn and brain coral heads, resident nurse sharks, and occasional hammerheads patrolling the drop-offs. The passage itself funnels migratory species between the Atlantic and Caribbean, making encounters with eagle rays, turtles, and cetaceans routine on the crossing and on the walls.
Conditions
Depth
6 to 40 m
Advanced depths
Current
Usually gentle
Can pick up on the edge
Visibility
15 to 30 m
Clearest in the calm season
Water
25 to 30°C
Shorty wetsuit
Month by month
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water (°C) | 25 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 28 | 27 | 26 |
| Vis (m) | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 15 | 15 | 12 | 12 | 15 | 18 | 20 |
| Current | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Gentle | Gentle | Gentle | Gentle | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate |
Your chances of seeing each animal
Caribbean reef shark
Photo: Rafi Amar · CC BY-NC
Sometimes
About 1 in 3 dives
Nurse shark
Photo: Rafael de la Parra · CC BY-NC
Sometimes
About 1 in 3 dives
Hawksbill sea turtle
Photo: Kevin Bryant · CC BY-NC-SA
Sometimes
About 1 in 3 dives
Spotted eagle ray
Photo: michel candel · CC BY-NC-SA
Sometimes
About 1 in 3 dives
Scalloped hammerhead
Photo: Kris Mikael Krister · CC BY
Rare
Now and then
Field journal
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