With its beautiful Mangroves and alluring blue waters, the Island of St John's has more to offer than the abundance of wildlife spread along its gorgeous scenery. The coasts of St. John's is an interesting dive site with many surprises and here's why.
Unique Seabed Layout
The coasts of St. John's is mainly a silty bottom with plots of small reef that garnish the smooth and even seabed. Upon descending down a mooring line, you will be greeted by a large rock decorated with corals. We recommend heading slightly north to 15-17m before pursuing a strong eastwards bearing. Do not be discouraged if you can't find signs of a reef, as you continue eastwards maintaining a depth of 15-17m, you will eventually hit small plots of rock and corals. These reefs are separated from one another by a flat silty bottom, what makes it so interesting and unique is that all the reefs are in a straight line!
Test on your buoyancy!
Due to the silty bottom, good buoyancy is especially important when diving at St. John's. If you are too close to the seabed you will risk kicking up all the silt and if you are too far from the seabed you won't be able to see the life below. Cuddlefish Divers offers the SSI Perfect Buoyancy Specialty Program which would help you gain more control over your buoyancy and make your future dives more comfortable. We recommend going with a Dive Guide as the unfamiliar terrain may pose a challenge to less experienced divers.
Marine Life
Due to the spread out layout of the reefs, most of the marine life at St. John's congregates around the little plots of rocks and corals. Look out for pipefish, nudibranchs, shrimps, cuttlefish and even lobsters! Even on the silty bottom u can occasionally see cute cuttlefish scuttling across or even pretty flatworms gliding through the water.
With a seabed unique to this dive site along with the exhilarating experience of low visibility and beautiful marine life, St. John's is a must-try for all divers regardless of experience.
Did You Know?
- St Johns otherwise known as Pulau Sekijang Bendera once served in the late 19th century as a quarantine station for immigrants infected with cholera.
- Devan Nair, the third President of Singapore was held prisoner here from 1951 to 1953 for subversive anti-colonial movement.