Blue Corner

Blue Corner is a triangular plateau jutting into open ocean, and when the tide runs, most of the western Pacific seems to funnel past it. Divers hook into bare rock at the lip and hang in the flow while gray reef sharks hold formation a few meters out, joined by dog-tooth tuna, wheeling bigeye trevally, and a Napoleon wrasse with decades of practiced interest in divers. Unhook, and the plateau becomes a garden of morays, turtles, and snapper walls. Few sites anywhere put this much biomass on such dependable schedule.

O momento pelo qual você vem: Gray reef sharks stacked in the current; the resident Napoleon wrasse at arm's length; barracuda and trevally schools over the drop.

Topografia: Hard-coral plateau at 15–20 m breaking to vertical walls on two sides

Corrente: Reversing tidal flow that can strengthen mid-dive; down-currents occur off the corner. The reef hook was popularized here for exactly this reason.

Entrada: Back-roll upcurrent of the plateau and let the tide deliver you to the lip; guides time the drop to the tide table.

Perigos: Strong, switching current and occasional down-drafts; separation on the drift-off. Carry a DSMB and follow the guide's unhook call.

Conservação: Inside Palau's shark sanctuary; hook only into dead substrate and keep fins off the coral.

Nitrox: Vale a pena aqui: os perfis situam-se na gama em que o nitrox prolonga significativamente o tempo sem paragem de descompressão (com a formação para o usar).