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Dive Site

Sataya Gota Soraya

  • Current: N/W in the morning, N/E at midday
  • Visibility: J, F, M, A: 25–30 m; M, J, J, A: 30–50 m; S, O, N, D: 40–50 m
  • Temperatures: J, F, M: 24–25°C; A, M, J: 26–28°C; J, A, S: 28-31°C; O, N, D: 30-25°C
  • Depth: 40 m
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Dive Site

Overview

Sataya Gota Soraya – the name of this diving spot already sounds wonderful and so is its coral garden, too. A great playground for ardent navigators as well as for the dolphins who like coming here to show off.

Description

Soraya means 'small' and Gota stands for a circular reef. We find ourselves at the small, circular reef in the area of Sataya – the sister reef of Sataya Gota Kebir, the large circular reef. The mooring is located in a small lagoon in the south-east. Should the current suddenly change, there's also another mooring in the south-west.

A small tip: At lunchtime, there's not much going on in the waters around the south-eastern mooring, so just postpone your lunch and enjoy the coral gardens for yourself!

We usually travel north by Zodiac because of the current. From there, we then choose whether we want to dive along the east or west side. No matter which direction we choose, the dive takes a good hour.

Should we not wish to miss the small cave in the north, we can dive through it to a lagoon which is covered with gorgeous mountain coral. Sataya Gota Soraya captivates us in the first place with its large table coral, acropora and soft coral as well as gigantic mountain coral. Snappers, thresher fish, goatfish, snails, dolphins and reef sharks cast their spell over us here too.

In the north-western area behind the sand alleyway, there's another coral garden consisting of old and new coral formations and which plummets 40 metres in the north.

Hotspots

  • Lagoon: In the north, we travel through a small cave to the enchanting lagoon full of grandiose mountain coral.
  • Dolphins: No matter where we go, we should always keep an eye out for these oceanic beauties. Encountering dolphins in the wild is a very emotional experience – nothing else can compare to it!

map Dive Plans

Lagoon and around the reef

In the north it goes from the Zodiac to the reef and over an abrasion edge. Then into a lagoon overgrown with mountain corals. A cave on the west side of the lagoon leads you into a coral garden, which is bordered by four blocks. You can explore it in a zigzag and dive back north. You can find everything around the blocks, whether anemones, moray eels, young reef sharks or turtles. The reef is always right shoulder when you come back to the boat.

The north to the southwest

Here, too, the Zodiac heads towards the reef. Dive the blocks west and explore the beautiful formations. Then further south, the reef left shoulder, again and again over sandy areas. See if you can find traces of humpbacked dragon heads and follow them to their hiding place. At some point there is another single block then further back to the boat. Take a look at your no-stop time and air - it is no problem to let the Zodiac pick you up again.

For navigation wonders

This dive also starts in the north and goes northeast in a wide area with blocks. Average depth there is 22m and the blocks are between 3 and 10 meters high. The best way to plan how to dive these blocks, after checking the current, is to use the 3D view and the overview map from reef interactive. Shortly before the boat, instead of diving through the canal, you can also dive outside around the large block.