Washing Machine

A series of shallow ridges and channels on North Atoll where converging water tumbles divers first one way, then the other, like laundry on a gentle cycle. Riding it is the point. The grooves funnel nutrient-rich flow past hard-coral gardens in unusually good health, whitetips slot into the channels, and grey reef sharks patrol where the ridges fall away into the wall. On slack it becomes an ordinary, pretty reef; with water moving it turns into one of the park's most entertaining rides, best dived with an empty hand and a close eye on the guide.

اللحظة التي جئت من أجلها: Roller-coaster surge channels, sharks in the grooves, vigorous hard coral

التضاريس: Coral ridges and sand grooves on North Atoll

التيار: Surging, multidirectional water in the grooves gave the site its name; guides time it to the tide and sometimes call it off.

المخاطر: Strong surge and washing-machine turbulence in the channels; keep clearance from the reef.

الحفاظ على البيئة البحرية: Park rules apply; no gloves and no grabbing coral even when the surge pushes.

نيتروكس: يستحق الأمر هنا: الملفات الشخصية تقع في النطاق الذي يُمدّد فيه الهواء المدعّم (نيتروكس) وقت الغوص دون توقف تمديدًا ملموسًا، مع التدريب اللازم لاستخدامه.