Long Caye, Glover's Reef Atoll, Belize

Nautilus Wall

Nautilus Wall is a vertical wall dive on the eastern edge of Glover's Reef Atoll, just north of Long Caye. The reef top sits at 12 metres and the wall drops vertically past 35 metres into the deep blue. The face is decorated with deep-water sea fans, large barrel sponges, vase sponges, elephant-ear sponges, sea plumes and dense colonies of black coral below 25 metres. The shallow shoulder is a coral garden of mountainous star coral, brain coral, sheet coral and small pillar coral colonies. Reef life is abundant: schools of yellowtail snapper, big horse-eye jacks, schoolmasters, midnight parrotfish, queen and French angelfish, large groupers and queen triggerfish. Caribbean reef sharks pass along the wall and eagle rays cruise the rim. Hawksbill turtles graze sponges in the shallows. Currents are moderate; the dive is typically run as a drift. Visibility 25 to 35 metres. Recommended for divers with deep specialty and wall experience.