Banana Reef · also called 'Magic Five' for the five connected pinnacles that make up the dive · is on the western side of Big Giftun Island, 50 minutes east of the marina. The dive winds between the five pinnacles via sandy channels, all in 12-18 m of water with no current and the densest soft-coral cover we have. It's the prettiest reef in our rotation by a margin · photographers and macro divers love it, beginners feel like they're inside a postcard.
- Depth
- 5-22 m
- Visibility
- 20–25 m
- Season
- Jan - Dec
- Boat ride
- 50 min
- Difficulty
- All levels
Topography and dive profile
Five oval coral pinnacles, the tallest 22 m high, connected by sandy channels at 14-18 m. We drop on the eastern (offshore) side of the southernmost pinnacle and weave through the channels, ending at the northernmost pinnacle on the safety stop. The whole route is roughly 250 m of dive distance, completed in 50-60 minutes at a slow pace. No current, no decision-making · pure looking.
The pinnacles' western faces are densely covered with red and purple soft coral, the eastern faces with hard coral and gorgonians. Glassfish swarms inside two of the pinnacles' overhangs (visible from outside, easy to photograph). The route's central pinnacle has a swim-through arch · we run divers through it one at a time at the safety-stop depth.
What you'll see
- ◇Soft coral on every surface
- ◇Glassfish in the swim-throughs
- ◇Lionfish
- ◇Anthias clouds
- ◇Reef octopus
Who it suits
Every level. Open Water beginners run the route slowly and stay above 14 m. AOW students do Peak Performance Buoyancy training drills here because the layout is forgiving for skill work. Photographers spend a full dive on a single pinnacle.
When the captain runs this site
Banana Reef is one of the named Giftun sites the captain may pick on an eastern-rotation daily-dive day (50 minutes by boat). Often paired with Erg Somaya as the second site. Daily-dive bookings go through the daily diving page · the captain confirms the morning of.