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Anguilla
Honeymoon Planner
Ideas for a romantic getaway on this Caribbean island
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Adventures
in Anguilla: Scuba Diving
Anguilla is making
its move into the world of scuba diving and still offers pristine
conditions around the island for those couples looking for adventure
in the form of coral reef dives as well as wreck dives.
Some popular dive sites include:
Sandy Island,
30-70 feet. A good site for sea fans and soft corals.
Sandy Deep, 15-60 feet. A mini-wall offers divers the
chance to spot hard corals, abundant fish life, and occasionally
stingrays.
Aughors Deep, 110 feet. This deep dive includes a look
at black coral; often large pelagics are spotted.
Frenchmans Reef, 10-40 feet. Look for schools of reef
fish on this cliff edge boulder. Popular with underwater photographers
and beginners.
Prickly Pear, 30-70 feet. An underwater canyon, this
site includes ledges, caverns, and is often home of nurse
sharks that rest on its sandy bottom.
Grouper Bowl, 25-50 feet. Hard coral formations are
found here.
The Coliseum, 25-50 feet. Hard coral formations and
schooling fish spotted here.
Sand Canyon, 90 feet. An underwater canyon that comes
up to within 25 feet of the surface makes this dive popular.
Little Bay, 15-30 feet. Training and night dives often
use this site, which is a nursery area for small fish; good
underwater photography site.
Seven wrecks lie
in the waters off Anguilla. Four were sunk in 1990 as part of
an ecological program and all the wrecks are intact and upright
on the ocean floor. Wrecks off Anguilla's shores include:
Wreck of
Ida Maria, 60 feet. Deliberately sunk in 1985, this 110-foot
freighter is home to many schools of fish and Anguilla's famous
lobsters are often spotted here.
Wreck of M.V. Sarah, 80 feet. Deliberately sunk in June,
1990, this 230-foot vessel is home to a wide variety of marine
life.
Wreck of M.V. Meppel, 80 feet. Also sink in June 1990,
this vessel is intact and sits just inside the sail reef system.
Wreck of M.V. Lady Vie, 80 feet. Another vessel sunk
in June 1990, this intact vessel is also located near the
sail reef system.
Wreck of M.V. Commerce, 45-80 feet. Sitting on a gently
sloping bottom, this 1986 wreck has an abundance of fish life
and rays are often spotted here.
Adventures
in Anguilla: Snorkeling
Snorkeling is always
a popular underwater activity around the island. A marked snorkel
trail is found off Shoal Bay East. Maintained by the National
Trust, the site has been mapped and can be easily followed by
most snorkelers. (Storms sometimes move the markers so check
with the National Trust before heading out in search of the
trail.) Stop by the National Trust office at the National Museum
in The Valley or ask your hotel's concierge for a map of this
snorkel trail. Laminated for use underwater, the maps are available
from the National Trust for a deposit. To check on the snorkel
trail or to obtain a map, call the National Trust at (264) 497-5297.
The snorkel trail offers a diversity of sites that illustrate
the type of marine life and underwater formations found in Anguilla's
waters. To reach the snorkel trail, follow the main road down
to Shoal Bay. The trail is located just off the point east of
Uncle Ernie's. The marked trail includes sites that illustrate
underwater damage such as hurricane damage sustained in Hurricane
Luis, algae invasions, and white band disease, a bacterial disease
that spread throughout much of the Caribbean in the 1980s. At
this site, dead elkhorn coral can be seen .
The trail also identifies
brain coral, boulder coral, and natural defenses used by reef
creatures such fire coral, which stings predators (and swimmers!)
when touched. The snorkel trail also marks turtle habitat and
the site is known to be the home of hawksbill turtles year-around.
Related
Pages about Anguilla:
> Honeymoons,
Destination Weddings, and Romantic Getaways in Anguilla
> Anguilla chapter
of "Romantic Escapes in the Caribbean"
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