Shark Point: Peter Island

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DEPTH: 25-8O FEET (8-24 M)

LEVEL: ADVANCED

The rocky southern tip of Peter Island continues underwater as a ridge rising above a fairly nondescript bottom. The area is an undersea crossroads with schools of pelagics sweeping through, mingling with the schools of residents, and then zooming off again. Visibility can be exception at over 100 feet due to the site's location in the open ocean.

The mooring places the boat over a shallow, fire coral-blanketed saddle on the ridge. There is a small cave just to your left as you come over the saddle. As you turn right and follow the ridge away from shore, a condo-sized rock abuts a matching-sized dog leg dent in the ridge. Here you can find shelter from the current and if it is particularly strong, this is a great vantage point to watch the schools of black durgon, horse-eye jacks and the occasional marauding barracuda cavorting above the current-swept craggy edge of the ridge. Continuing out along the base of the ridge there is a small tunnel that cuts through it and into a canyon formed by a second parallel ridge. Queen angelfish, whitespotted filefish, groupers and all the different species of butterflyfishes frequent this area.

Deeper, there is a series of mini-ridges. We once spotted a large jewfish and a sizable nurse shark resting on top of one another in a low archway here. This is an exciting place to scan the blue water horizon as you never know what may pass by; turtles, large jacks and even the odd shark have been sighted here. Head back to the boat, hugging the lee side of the ridge to avoid any current.

Virtually a second separate dive site is the maze-like system of alleyways and caves that pockmark the shoreline in less than 20 feet (6 m) of water. There is one cave with five separate entrances. But diving here requires flat calm conditions and advanced buoyancy skills.

Caution. This is an advanced dive because it is exposed to the prevailing swells and sometimes has strong current. Snorkeling should only be attempted in the shallows on calm days by experienced snorkelers.

Text extracted from The Guide to Diving and Snorkeling in the British Virgin Islands by Jeff Williams, Ria O'Hagan.

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