Havelock Island

Johnny's Gorge

A garden of fans at 26 metres

Depth
22 - 30 m
Visibility
18 - 30 m
Minimum level
Advanced Open Water
Site type
Reef
Entry
Boat entry
Boat ride
35 min boat ride
Water
27 - 30°C
Thirty minutes offshore, a flat sandy plateau interrupted by coral heads the size of cars, each one carrying its own crowd of fish.
  • Reef
  • Havelock Island

Johnny's is the site guides book their own days off to dive. It is a plateau at around 26 m where a dozen coral bommies sit on white sand, and because they are the only structure for a long way in any direction, everything that lives out here lives on them.

What you will see

Groupers the length of your arm sit under the overhangs and refuse to move for you. Sweetlips stack up in the current shadow of each head, and the sand between them is worth as much attention as the coral - blue-spotted rays, garden eels and the occasional bamboo shark tucked under a ledge.

How it dives

Gentle by Havelock standards. There is usually a light current running across the plateau, which is what keeps the fish stacked where they are, but it is nothing you have to fight. Bottom time is the limiting factor rather than conditions - at 26 m on air you will get twenty-five useful minutes, which is why we run this one on nitrox whenever a group is certified for it.

What you will see

  • Resident giant groupers
  • Sweetlips and snapper schools
  • Blue-spotted rays on the sand
  • Excellent on nitrox

When to dive it

Best conditions: November - 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.

  • Depth22 - 30 m
  • Visibility18 - 30 m
  • Water temperature27 - 30°C
  • CurrentModerate 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.

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

  • Is nitrox worth it here?

    More than anywhere else we dive. At 26 m, EANx32 buys you roughly ten extra minutes of no-decompression time, and ten minutes on this plateau is a different dive.

  • Can an Open Water diver dive it?

    The plateau sits at 26 m, past the 18 m limit, so no. If you are Open Water and want to see this kind of coral head, Jackson Bar dives similarly at 16 m.

  • How rough is the crossing?

    Thirty-five minutes in open water. Between May and September it can be uncomfortable, which is one reason we do not run this site in the monsoon.

More diving around Havelock Island

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.

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From our divers

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, February
  • They 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
Call +91 90000 00000