Bradford Shoals, North Emaand Susan’s Reef dive sites.
Day three of Kimbe Bay diving takes us to Bradford Shoals, a seamount that rises from the depths creating an environment rich in biodiversity.
At depth you can see a number of pelagic fish including Barracudas, Pinfaro, Big Eye Trevally, Dog Tooth Tuna, Unicorn Fish, and Sharks, as well as Leather Coral at the stunning vertical drop off where we were treated to a Hammerhead that swam past us before gracefully disappearing into the blue.
Closer to the surface we found Fairy basslets, Butterfly fish, Damselfish and Pink Anemone fish in abundance and to top it off found one of my personal favorites the Cuttlefish counting not one or two but five in close proximity of each other.
North Ema Reef is a deep bommie situated to the North of the main reef.
It is a jungle of Giant Gorgonian sea fans that take your breath away. After spending as much time as you can admiring their beauty and abundance it is time to turn east and head back to the shallower waters of the main reef to admire yet another sheer wall that drops away to the brilliant blue depths.
Navigating our way around the reef to the surface we came across large Anemone with rare Orange Anemone fish to keep us company on our accent.
Susan’s Reef was our last dive of the day; this is the place to go in search of the illusive Pigmy Sea Horse. With Red Whip Gorgonian Fans, colourful Crinoids, Sea Whips, Hard Corals, Staghorn Corals and Sea Anemone this aquatic garden is definitely for the coral lovers amongst us.
I spent the whole dive admiring the tiny and fragile beauty of both Red and Brown Pigmy Sea Horses hidden away in their glorious sea fan homes.
I can think of worse ways to spend an afternoon!