Salon

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Salon is a small in-shore reef that is a favourite of photographers and divers alike because of all the special small creatures that are resident here, and the odd behaviour of the Trumpetfish. The actual reef is a 25m long ridge like pinnacle that juts from the sand and is surrounded by boulders at the sides. We slowly swim around looking under overhangs and into caves for geometric, honeycomb and black cheek morays, broad barred firefish, the five different coloured paperfish (white, brown, pink, black and yellow) and for the cleaner shrimp that give this site its name.

Once you've located the cleaner shrimp, place your hand flat on the sand and wait for the shrimp to come out and give you a bit of a manicure. Watch for the Trumpetfish though, that use divers as decoys to try and grab the shrimp, a phenomena that has only been seen at this reef. The Trumpetfish come so close to your mask that you can see their intricate gill and mouth movements. Don't forget to look out onto the sand and around the boulders for octopus and bluespotted and round ribbontailed rays.

This is a wonderful dive site that reminds people of the beauty of the little things, and tempers visitors' fixation on Manta's if just for 50 minutes! General info:This dive is quite gentle as it is rarely affected by current and is great even in low visibility, because you get so up close and personal, however if the surge is too strong we will suggest another site.

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