Mataking Scuba Diving

Garden Of Eden

"Would you Adam and Eve it, guv?" Another dive site called Garden of Eden! So it may not be originally named, but still Mataking's Garden of Eden is still a site well worth visiting at least once during your stay.

Rolling into the clear water, you will start by dropping down to the sea bed at around 20 to 25 metres where the floor is carpeted with orange and brown soft corals wafting lazily in the mild current. Sea-pens and rocks hosting sea-squirts and anemones also dot the floor. After a few minutes around here you will begin the slow and relaxed incline up the gentle slope.

The healthy reef scene plays host to any number of interesting sights and you should keep a look out for the great variety of nudibranchs, goby and shrimp partnerships, blue-spotted rays and moray eels. Photographers will love the colours on display as rocks and bommies are crowned with yellow, green and black featherstars, while lurking on the floor are likely to be snapper's favourites such as leaf fish and blue ribbon eels.

All the while you will be surrounded by myriad reef inhabitants such as surgeonfish, moorish idols and angelfish, many being tended to by the fastidious little cleaner wrasses that have opened up shop in the Garden of Eden.

Garden Of Eden Reef Basics: Coral reef slope
Depth: 5 - 25m
Visibility: 10 - 20m
Currents: Gentle
Surface conditions: Normally calm but may be choppy
Water temperature: 25 - 29°C
Experience level: Beginner - intermediate
Number of dive sites: 1
Diving season: All year round
Distance: 800m (4 minutes) from the Mataking jetty
Access: Mataking Resort dive boat trips

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