Buck Island National Monument Elkhorn Gardens
Dive site
Buck Island Reef National Monument protects the healthiest elkhorn coral barrier reef left in the US Caribbean. The underwater snorkel trail is famous — but beneath and beyond it, scuba divers find dense A. palmata thickets in 3 to 10 metres, green and hawksbill turtles grazing on seagrass, and a predictable resident population of queen conch. The mooring field and no-anchor zone mean corals here show real structure that most other Caribbean sites have lost. Reef sharks make occasional passes on the outer edge.
Conditions
Depth
3 to 18 m
Good for beginners
Current
Variable
Can pick up on the edge
Visibility
15 to 25 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) | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 15 | 15 | 12 | 12 | 15 | 18 | 18 |
| Current | Gentle | Gentle | Gentle | Gentle | calm | calm | calm | calm | Gentle | Gentle | Gentle | Gentle |
Your chances of seeing each animal
Hawksbill sea turtle
Photo: Kevin Bryant · CC BY-NC-SA
Sometimes
About 1 in 3 dives
Green sea turtle
Photo: MARC MARTIN SOLA · CC BY-NC
Sometimes
About 1 in 3 dives
Elkhorn coral
Photo: Ryan McMinds · CC BY
Sometimes
About 1 in 3 dives
Queen conch
Sometimes
About 1 in 3 dives
Caribbean reef shark
Photo: Rafi Amar · CC BY-NC
Sometimes
About 1 in 3 dives
Field journal
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