Anemone City

Drop in shallow at the northern end of the western wall, no more than about 10 metres, so you land on the anemone carpet rather than below it. Finding the entry is the only fiddly part. The guide looks for a long indentation in the reef and puts the group in at its northern end. From there the dive is a relaxed southward drift, the reef on your left shoulder and open blue on the other side.

The carpet is the event. Magnificent anemones blanket the wall in a near-continuous stretch, running from around 5 metres down to 40, each one tended by its resident clownfish. Anthias hang in clouds over the coral, glassfish gather in the shade, and a curious Napoleon wrasse will sometimes shadow the group. Big animals are not the point here. With a favourable current the drift can carry on to the southern mooring, linking the anemone wall to the south plateau in a single dive. Operators often save this leg for the end of a dive that began out in the blue, so the anemones glow in the late sun as a calm finish.

On a reef famous for its sharks, Anemone City is the one dive about what lives on the wall instead of out in the water column. It is the densest, most extensive anemone-and-clownfish field on Daedalus, vertically continuous from snorkel depth to 40 metres. That makes it the reef's standout shallow dive and its most dependable subject. When the hammerheads do not show, the anemones always do.

It is also the natural breather of a Daedalus day. The shark dives demand attention and depth; this one asks for good buoyancy and an eye for colour. For a diver weighing the reef's three zones, this is the one to pick for reef scenery and photography rather than the hunt for big animals in the blue.

Bring both wide-angle and macro. The wall rewards two approaches: the sweep of the anemone carpet glowing against the blue, and the individual clownfish guarding their anemones for close work. The shallow 5 to 10 metre band holds the densest patch and the best light, so plan to spend your time there rather than racing the drift.

Afternoon is the slot to ask for, when the sun swings onto the western wall. That light is what every account of this dive remembers. Hold your trim and let the current set the pace. The anemones are not going anywhere, and the diver who hovers patiently over one patch comes away with more than the one who covers the whole wall.

This is an advanced dive despite the shallow start. The carpet begins near the surface, but it sits on an exposed offshore wall with medium-to-strong current and is run as a drift, so it carries Daedalus's advanced rating. Strong flow on the western side is normal, and good buoyancy is what lets you hold the shallow line over the anemones rather than sinking past them.

Carry an SMB and reel for the drift and the pickup, and stay off the wall and the anemones as you shoot. Nitrox is worth it across the repetitive deeper Daedalus days. With a helpful current you may finish on the south plateau, so dive it knowing the exit point can move.