Painted Walls

On the west side of Dead Chest Island in the British Virgin Islands, four narrow gullies cut into the limestone to form parallel canyons whose vertical walls are sheeted in encrusting cup corals in yellow, red, orange, and purple, with rope and finger sponges threaded through the cracks. Pillar corals stand in the sandy gaps between ridges. A swim through arch on the northern ridge opens into a small basin where silversides ball up and resident tarpon hang at the entrance. Hawksbill turtles graze the slopes, nurse sharks rest beneath ledges, and green moray eels watch from holes in the wall. Currents are typically low and the profile bottoms near 18 m, so the colour and texture of the walls reward a slow recreational pace.