About The Chimney
The Chimney on Great Dog Island is named after a dramatic swim-through arch and narrow canyon that divers ascend like a chimney. Inside, the walls are covered with colorful sponges and encrusting corals, and schools of snapper and grunts hang in the shade. The reef around the arch offers healthy hard corals and frequent turtle encounters. It is one of the most photographed underwater structures in the British Virgin Islands.
Highlights
Famous arch and chimney swim-throughcolorful sponge-covered wallsschools of snapper and gruntsfrequent turtle encounters
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: The Chimney
- Depth
- 8–20 m
- Current
- Mild
- Entry
- Liveaboard only
- Level
- Intermediate
- Dive type
- Reef, Cave & cavern
- Region / port
- British Virgin Islands
- Coordinates
- 18.4950° N, 64.4550° W
Conditions & Currents
Guides normally rate the water movement here as mild current. Dive profiles here run between roughly 8 and 20 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 The Chimney from a liveaboard?
The Chimney 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 The Chimney on their British Virgin Islands itineraries.
Liveaboards diving The Chimney
These liveaboards may visit The Chimney 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
Coral Gardens
British Virgin Islands
Coral Gardens on Great Dog Island is a shallow, sheltered reef of staghorn and elkhorn corals interspersed with sand patches.
- Suitable for
- Beginner
- Current
- No current
- Access
- Liveaboard only
- Depth
- 4–14 m
- Theme
- Reef