Rowley Shoals
The Rowley Shoals are a chain of coral atolls on the edge of one of the widest continental shelves in the world. The three pear-shaped atolls have shallow lagoons inhabited by corals and abundant marine life. Each atoll covers an area of around 80 to 90 square kilometres. The three shoals are strikingly similar in dimension, shape, orientation and distance apart. Each atoll is north-south orientated, pear-shaped, with the narrow end towards the north.
The Shoals rise with nearly vertical sides from very deep water. Mermaid Reef, the most northerly, rises from about 440 metres, Clerke from 390 metres and Imperieuse from about 230 metres.
The Rowley Shoals is an opportunity to experience a diverse array of snorkelling and diving environments including lagoons, canyons, sheer vertical walls, high speed drifts, night dives and snorkeling. You can experience the swimming pool like conditions 300 kms from the nearest land, isolation with no other boats insight and an uninterrupted night sky filled with an unimaginable amount of glittering stars.
The coral atolls of the Rowley Shoals are famed for their almost untouched coral gardens, giant clams and other shellfish. Giant potato cod and maori wrasse wait to be hand fed and follow divers around, while colourful reef fish show little fear, and trevally, mackerel and tuna hover in schools. An exceptional 233 species of coral and 688 species of fish inhabit the shoals-including many species not found on near shore coral reefs. There are at least 28 species of staghorn coral alone. As well as being inhabited by a number of species found nowhere else, the coral and fish communities of the Rowley Shoals are unique in their composition, and in the relative abundance of species.
Rowley Shoals are among the few reefs in the world affected by a high tidal range. The dramatic five metre tides pour massive volumes in and out of the coral framework and have created unearthly and enchanting coralscapes. The turquoise lagoons are filled with coral bommies brimming with exotic tropical fish and unbelievably colourful formations. Drift diving in and out of the atolls sweeps you through pristine reefs with maori wrasse, barracuda, potato cod, morays turtles and sharks.
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