Carp Island Dive Site

Site Overview

Carp Island, within the Other Notable Sites (Macro & Special) of Palau, is one of the region's most rewarding dive sites and a highlight of any Micronesian diving trip. A reliable house reef famed for seahorses, frogfish, and ghost pipefish, a macro photographer's dream. Geographically the site features slope and reef formations built from coral and rock substrate, dropping from a shallow top of around 5 metres to a maximum depth of about 25 metres, with an average working depth near 14 metres. Visibility is typically excellent, ranging from 12 to 30 metres, while water temperatures hold between 27 and 30 degrees Celsius year-round. The marine life is the headline attraction. Divers routinely encounter Seahorse (Hippocampus kuda), Frogfish (Antennarius striatus), Ghost Pipefish (Solenostomus paradoxus), Nudibranch (Chromodoris), Anemonefish (Amphiprion clarkii), alongside dense reef fish, invertebrates, and the soft and hard corals that blanket the reef. The mix of nutrient-rich currents and Palau's protected status makes Carp Island one of the most reliable places in the country to see both abundant macro life and large pelagic visitors on a single dive. Carp Island is best enjoyed as part of a boat programme out of Carp Island, and it rewards wide-angle photographers, naturalists, and adrenaline-seeking drift divers alike. The Palau Protected Areas Network helps keep the reef pristine, so divers are asked to maintain perfect buoyancy and respect the fragile coral at all times.