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St. Peters

Info & Marine life (10)

Flights & Beds

Description:
Montserrat is a small Caribbean island of the Lesser Antilles. It is located in the center of a triangle formed by the islands of Antigua, St. Christopher (St. Kitts), and Guadeloupe. Montserrat received a lot of attention when its volcano, the Soufriere Hill, erupted in July 1995. The volcano has been active for over eight years. Some of Montserrat's greatest treasures lie in the sea. This volcanic island was never densely populated. In her best times before the Souffriere Hills Volcano erupted, not more than 12000 people lived on the island, too few to seriously pollute the surrounding sea. Thus, Montserrat is one of only very few places in the Caribbean, where hard corals are virtually free of the destructive diseases attributed to pollution.

The island is surrounded by a shelf that gently slopes from the coast to about 60 feet depth. Then the sea floor abruptly drops into the abyss of the Caribbean Sea. The shelf is covered with sand and volcanic rocks. The rocks form the base of extensive patch reefs. The rim of the shelf slopes down by about 45 degree. Outcroppings of rocky material provide substrate for deep water reef communities.

The east coast of the island is exposed to the heavy surf driven from the Atlantic by the trade winds. Only the hardiest of the species can cope with the forces of the heavy surges that constantly wash over the rocks. The conditions for diving and snorkeling on the east coast are very demanding and only the most well trained and strongest individuals should attempt it. The west coast is in the lee of the island for the most part of the year. Thus, the conditions are usually calm and the shallow reefs could develop to their full potential. Most of the diving and snorkeling is done on the West coast. However in the winter months quite often waves from the North West can generate heavy surf on this side of the island too.In general, the distribution pattern of rocks and sand mirrors the contour of the coast line. At places where the coastline is shallow and where beaches form, the sea floor is usually sand bottom. Under cliffs, the sea floor is usually littered with rocks and stony ledges. Here, the diving is spectacular.

Details:

Nearest commercial airport: Antigua / Montserrat (soon)