Western Shoals is a very popular harbor dive. The reef is shaped like a wide horseshoe with navigation buoys marking each end. It has consistently good diving on the western facing side.
On the northwest side there is a large chain thats been there for many years. The picture at the top of this page shows how much coral growth has covered the chain.
It has a sloping reef with small crevices, schooling fish and many anemones. There are several large "swim through" crevices as well that hold interesting sponges, reef fish and invertebrates. The top of the reef is covered with vast colonies of staghorn corals that are home to thousands of small reef fish.
On the east side of the reef there is a concrete block that used to be a channel marker.
Angelfish. With their vibrant colours and extended vertical bodies, marine angelfishes are easy to spot. Most angelfishes restrict themselves to the shallows of the reef, seldom venturing deeper than 100 ft.
They usually are solitary or seen in pairs, and hide in the reefs at night. They also go through a dramatic change in their patterns from juvenile to adult stages.