About Painted Walls
Painted Walls off Dead Chest Island is one of the most colorful dives in the British Virgin Islands. The site is a series of gullies and ridges where the rock is covered in bright encrusting sponges, cup corals and sea fans, so the walls really do look as if they have been painted in reds, oranges, yellows and purples. The terrain starts shallow and slopes down to around 30 meters, which suits a wide range of divers. Macro life is excellent here, with blennies, arrow crabs and cleaner shrimps in the crevices, while turtles and rays cruise past in the blue. The colours are at their best on a sunny day with a torch to bring out the detail. Painted Walls is a regular stop on itineraries sailing between Salt Island and Peter Island.
Highlights
Brilliantly colored sponge- and coral-covered walls, great macro life, turtles and rays, superb with a torch
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: Painted Walls
- Depth
- 6–30 m
- Current
- No current
- Entry
- Liveaboard only
- Level
- Beginner
- Dive type
- Wall, Reef
- Region / port
- British Virgin Islands
- Coordinates
- 18.3708° N, 64.5586° W
Conditions & Currents
Currents are normally mild and visibility is usually 15 to 30 meters. The sheltered gullies make this a relaxed dive for most experience levels. Dive profiles here run between roughly 6 and 30 metres, so plan your gas and no-decompression limits around the deeper part of the site. It is usually briefed as a dive for beginner 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 Painted Walls from a liveaboard?
Painted Walls 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 Painted Walls on their British Virgin Islands itineraries.
Liveaboards diving Painted Walls
These liveaboards may visit Painted Walls on selected itineraries — the exact dive sites depend on departure, weather and conditions.
All Star Cuan Law
Virgin Islands
20 guests32 m
Dive sites similar to Painted Walls
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© Esri — Maxar, Earthstar, GIS
Dead Chest West
British Virgin Islands
Dead Chest West lies off the island where Blackbeard reputedly marooned his mutinous crew.
- Suitable for
- Intermediate
- Current
- Mild
- Access
- Liveaboard only
- Depth
- 8–24 m
- Theme
- Reef / Wall