pinnacle

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Napoleon Reef

Napoleon Reef, just off Pemuteran, is where we head when we want to just drift and watch. It’s a shallow reef, only topping out at 19 metres, but that just means more bottom time, which we love. The name comes from the resident Napoleon wrasse, and you really do see them here, cruising the reef edge, often quite curious about divers. The best way to dive it is a gentle drift, letting the current carry you past huge stretches of staghorn coral. Seriously, it's fields of it, interspersed with patches of table coral, all buzzing with clown anemonefish defending their homes. We particularly enjoy the sheer number of tiny gobies darting around – look for the flash of orange convict reefgobies and the subtler yellow-red pygmygobies. Visibility hovers around 15 metres, sometimes a bit more, sometimes a bit less, but usually enough to appreciate the scale of the coral growth. It’s a site that rewards slow diving, just soaking it all in. We’d suggest it for divers who enjoy taking their time, spotting the smaller stuff, and appreciating healthy coral.