Corruption Rock
Current, structure and everything that comes with it
- Depth
- 14 - 30 m
- Visibility
- 15 - 30 m
- Minimum level
- Advanced Open Water
- Site type
- Pinnacle
- Entry
- Boat entry
- Boat ride
- 75 min boat ride
- Water
- 27 - 30°C
- Pinnacle
- Port Blair
Corruption Rock sits in open water off Rutland Island, south of Port Blair. It is a pinnacle in the sense that matters: a hard structure standing in moving water, which is what concentrates fish. It is the site experienced divers on this side of the islands come for.
What you will see
Soft coral and sea fans on the exposed faces, schooling trevally and barracuda working the up-current side, sweetlips stacked in the lee, and a reasonable chance of an eagle ray or a reef shark passing through the blue. The density is a function of the current, which is why we do not dive it slack.
How it dives
A negative entry onto the rock, the dive worked around its shelter, and a mid-water ascent on a blob. It is a thirty-metre site with real current and it is briefed as one. We want your last twenty dives to be recent and we will ask.
What you will see
- Pinnacle in open water off Rutland
- Schooling trevally and barracuda
- Negative entry, drift ascent
- Advanced certification and recent dives
When to dive it
Best conditions: December - April
Outside those months the site still gets dived - visibility and sea state just move around, so ask us what the water is doing the week you are here.
What the water is doing
The figures our guides brief on. They are what the site usually gives you - the sea gets the final say on the morning, and the boat briefing always wins.
- Depth14 - 30 m
- Visibility15 - 30 m
- Water temperature27 - 30°C
- CurrentStrong current
- No current
- Mild current
- Moderate current
- Strong current
Drift diving on the day it runs - stay with your guide and start the dive up-current.
Under the surface
Before you dive
The rules every diver on this site is held to, whichever trip brings you here. None of them are negotiable, and none of them are a surprise on the day.
Minimum age
Ten years old for a first guided dive, twelve and above for certified diving. Ask us if you are travelling with younger children.
Medical declaration
You will complete a diver medical questionnaire before entering the water. A "yes" to any question means a doctor has to sign you off first, so tell us early rather than on the boat.
Flying after diving
Leave at least 18 hours between your last dive and your flight. Book your trip home with that gap already in it - we cannot shorten it for you.
Insurance
Bring travel insurance that names recreational scuba diving, including chamber treatment and evacuation. We will ask to see it.
This is general guidance for recreational diving, not medical advice about you. If any of it is a question rather than a formality, speak to a doctor before you travel.
Questions divers ask about this site
How much current is there really?
Enough that the dive is planned around it rather than in spite of it. If you have not dived in current before, this is not where to learn - do a day on the Havelock sites with us first and we will take you here after.
Why is the boat ride so long?
It is genuinely offshore, south of Rutland. We leave early, dive it twice with a long surface interval, and are back for the afternoon.
What if the conditions are wrong on the day?
We call it at the boat and move to another site. Nobody is going in on this one to justify the drive.
More diving around Port Blair
ReefPort BlairNon-diver and upJolly Buoy
Marine park water, and it shows5 - 16 mVisibility 15 - 30 mExplore site
ReefPort BlairNon-diver and upNorth Bay
Where almost everybody does their first dive3 - 14 mVisibility 8 - 18 mExplore site
ReefPort BlairOpen Water Diver and upSnake Island
The reef off Wandoor nobody queues for8 - 22 mVisibility 10 - 22 mExplore site
Want this site on your log? Tell us when you are on the island and we will put you on the boat that goes there.
What people say once the boat is back in
Best first dive I could have asked for. The instructors were unbelievably patient - I panicked at four metres on the first attempt and nobody made me feel stupid about it. Second attempt went fine and I finished the course three days later.
Rahul MenonOpen Water Diver Only one of us dives. Every other operator we spoke to had a plan where the other one sat on a beach for four days. Aqua Nomads put the snorkel line off the same boat, so we were in the same water the whole week - and by day three I had done a Discover Scuba dive too. The sunset sailing on the last evening was the best hour of the trip.
Priya and Arjun NairHoneymoon, FebruaryThey called the Dixon crossing on our first morning because of a swell, and I was quietly annoyed. We dived Jackson Bar twice instead and it turned out to be the best day of the week. Getting Dixon on day three in flat water made the point - they were right and I was wrong.
Daniel OseiAdvanced Open Water Diver Two teenagers, neither of whom had dived. The instructors worked one-to-one with both of them for the first two dives without us asking, and my daughter has since booked her Open Water for next December. Whatever they did, it worked.
The Fernandes familyFour divers, two of them under fifteen I cannot swim well and I said so when I booked. They ran the whole thing one instructor to one diver, stayed in the shallow half of the bay, and never once made it feel like a concession. I have since done the swim assessment and the full course.
Aditi SharmaOpen Water Diver