About Carrot Shoal
Carrot Shoal is an offshore reef rising from the channel between Peter and Norman Islands. The shoal attracts schooling fish, barracuda and jacks, and its coral heads are decorated with sponges and gorgonians. Because it sits in open water it can have current, which is exactly what brings in the fish life. It is a rewarding dive for intermediate divers looking for bigger fish action.
Highlights
Offshore shoal with schooling fishbarracuda and jackssponge- and gorgonian-covered coral headslively current-fed reef
Season calendar
Best months to dive here
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Excellent
Good
Off-Season
Dive site facts: Carrot Shoal
- Depth
- 12–25 m
- Current
- Moderate
- Entry
- Liveaboard only
- Level
- Intermediate
- Dive type
- Pinnacle, Reef
- Region / port
- British Virgin Islands
- Coordinates
- 18.3400° N, 64.5600° W
Conditions & Currents
Guides normally rate the water movement here as moderate current. Dive profiles here run between roughly 12 and 25 metres, so plan your gas and no-decompression limits around the deeper part of the site. It is usually briefed as a dive for intermediate divers. The site is reached by liveaboard, so entries are run from the tender or straight off the back deck. Tide, wind and season all shift the picture from day to day, so the crew's briefing on the boat always overrides any general description.
Why dive Carrot Shoal from a liveaboard?
Carrot Shoal is one of British Virgin Islands's signature dive sites. A liveaboard sleeps you on the water and puts you in the water for three to four guided dives per day, including dawn and night dives that day-boat operators rarely offer. You skip the daily commute back to port and reach quieter, less-crowded sites in the same region on a single trip.
Below are the liveaboards that include Carrot Shoal on their British Virgin Islands itineraries.
Liveaboards diving Carrot Shoal
These liveaboards may visit Carrot Shoal on selected itineraries — the exact dive sites depend on departure, weather and conditions.
All Star Cuan Law
Virgin Islands
20 guests32 m
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© Esri — Maxar, Earthstar, GIS
Diamond Reef
British Virgin Islands
Diamond Reef lies off Great Harbour on Peter Island and is named after a diver who lost a diamond ring there in the 1990s.
- Suitable for
- Beginner
- Current
- No current
- Access
- Liveaboard only
- Depth
- 6–15 m
- Theme
- Reef