Marine life profile
Pipefish
Recorded at 906 dive sitesWhere divers encounter it
Explore Pipefish around the world
It follows a daily rhythm of feeding, sheltering and interacting with rivals, partners or a larger school.
Meet the species
What to look for
How to Recognize It
Use body shape, fin outline, color pattern and swimming style to separate it from the surrounding reef community.
How It Behaves
It follows a daily rhythm of feeding, sheltering and interacting with rivals, partners or a larger school.
Special Ability
Precise fins and a body shaped for its niche let it turn, hover or accelerate exactly where food and shelter demand.
Dive responsibly
Share the water well
How to Approach
Move slowly at the same depth, avoid swimming directly at it and let the fish resume its normal behavior.
Safety
Usually safe to observe at a respectful distance. Never feed, corner or touch a fish, especially near nests or cleaning stations.
Worth knowing
The detail you remember
Interesting Facts
Pipefish is closely adapted to its habitat, and patient observation reveals details that a quick swim-by misses.
Where to Find
Look around coral structure, rocky reef, wrecks and current lines where shelter and food meet.
Known countries
Sightings map
Pipefish locations
Plan a dive
Dive sites with reported encounters
Blairgowrie Pier
Australia
Blairgowrie Pier is a fantastic site for photographers, due to the abundant macro life. It's also a popular training site, due to its sheltered position and manageable depth range (2-7m). The pier pylons and sea wall are heavily encrusted with sponges - home to many Seahorses and Nudibranchs - even the odd Tasselled Anglerfish. Ledges and hidey holes make great homes for numerous species of Rays, as well as Octopus, Squid and Giant Cuttlefish. You can also see Stargazers, Flathead, Decorator Crabs, Goatfish and many others. Blairgowrie Pier often hosts the annual Giant Spider Crab march in May-June each year. Thousands of crabs gather in the shallow waters to moult.
Area Perlindungan Laut (APL)
Indonesia
This dive site used to be protected area therefore you can find group of transplant coral in 5 meters. The bottom topography is sloppy and coral with some sand patches.
Bahura Dive House Reef
Philippines
A really varied dive site with a mix of huge coral formations, coral fields, and sandy areas. Great for macro and night diving. Deeper sandy areas and reef oases full of fish life and whip corals.
Casa Blanca
Mexico
This is a gorgeous reef named after Casa Gordon, a beachfront house which used to white. The reef very similar in composition and marine life to Paso del Cedral, with a constant drift which helps travel over the reef. A favorite of Cozumel's repeat divers, this dive site is often thriving with sharks, green morays and turtles.
Johnny's Gorge
India
Johnny's Gorge is a bed of low-lying rocky outcrops emerging from the bottom at 26metres / 85 feet. Surrounded by sand in every direction, these rocks have become an oasis of security and food for everything from small angelfish and anemonefish to spectacular schools of mackerels, barracudas, trevallies, bumphead parrotfish, surgeonfish, and snappers. And if this isn't enough, this world-class dive site is also home to reef sharks, giant groupers, large stingrays, and visiting manta and eagle rays. There is very rarely a quiet moment at Johnny's Gorge.
Pefkos
Greece
We dive from Fokia Bay, which is just outside the main village of Pefkos. A beautiful, shallow dive site, with many rock overhangs iding a plethora of Mediterranean sea life. Depth: 5-14m Main features: swim throughs Aquatic life: pipefish, damselfish, sting rays, rockfish Chance of: turtles Visibility: 20m+ Temp: 19-30 Current: none Programmes: qualified diver, Discover Scuba, PADI courses, snorkelling
Rye Pier
Australia
Rye Pier is one of Melbourne's best know and most-loved shore dive sites and is a great day or night dive. It consists of an L-shaped pier roughly 500m in length, under which lives a whole lot of exciting marine life. Depth ranges from 2 - 6m. Growth has encrusted the pylons, so there's plenty to see. Rye Pier is the easiest place to see Seahorses in the world! Common sightings here include octopus (Sand, Blue Ringed, Maori and Keel, among others), cuttlefish, giant smoothrays, seahorses, leatherjackets, calamari, dumpling squid, goatfish, as well as Giant Spider Crabs in their thousands and large schools of salmon and pike in the right season.
Tribe Gate
India
Tribe Gate/Oval reef is not one reef, but several patches of reefs around the bigger reef which is, well, you guessed right, oval-shaped! The shallowest part of the reef is about 3 metres / 10 feet and the deepest part is about 15 metres / 50 feet. Schools of juvenile pick handle barracudas, two-spot snappers, and fusiliers are found in this area. In the shallows, you will hear the loud crunching of humphead parrotfish before you see them. Octopuses, colourful nudibranchs, and a variety of anemonefish are also spotted here.
White Rock
Thailand
The range of life found here is huge and there is something to please every diver. Turtles come here to munch away on soft corals, casting a lazy, half-interested eye at divers. Koh Tao's infamous Titan Triggerfish prowl this dive site too, and some of the largest specimens hang out here. White Rock attracts many hunters: Great Barracuda and Trevally excite the fish making them dart for cover in the plentiful hard corals; Banded Sea Snakes wind their way through the corals searching for their prey. Blue-Ringed and Six-Banded Angelfish swim around in their buddy teams passing Beaked Coralfish, Bannerfish and Pig-Faced Butterflyfish. Look under ledges and outcroppings and you are bound to find a White-Eyed Moray Eel or a Blue-Spotted Ray awaiting nightfall. Under the South buoyline, a large shoal of Yellowtail Barracuda spend their days following divers. Even though White Rock is close to Koh Tao, in season Whalesharks are regularly seen here.
1 / 4 Wreck (Stern Courier)
Grenada
This site is the stern section of the Courier wreck in 11 meters / 35 ft of water, resting upside down with the Engine block and hull plates scattered around when it rolled from the top of the reef after falling off a transport barge.
2MAI Diving Point
Romania
An interesting place for a simple and comforting dive when there are no waves. The area is known among the locals as “Plaja Mica.“
Abu Dabour
Egypt
The nearby jetty can be used to enter this dive or you can enter from the shore through a very nice small canyon leading you to the clear blue water. This dive starts with a sloping sand bottom where you can choose to head to the north or south reef.
Abu Talha
Egypt
15min drive north. Shallowly sloping coral garden with pinnacles, which, when dived north, turns into a sandy slope with table corals. In the shallow area especially beautiful due to massive hard coral blocks.Entrance over the reef top, therefore only diveable at high tide and little wind.
Admiral 1
Maldives
It is one of the channels on the Western side of the atoll that can be crossed with mild current or entered with medium/strong current. Usually found on the outer side: stingrays, grey reef sharks, napoleon wrasses, fusiliers and many more reef fish.
Al Maqta
Oman
Al Maqta dive site is opposite of Ras Sarkan on the north part of Habalayn Bay. It is a coral wall with some slopes and a beautiful coral garden. Depth: 10–35 meters. Good for the Macro and Night diving. REMARKS: Some current is on the tips of the site, usually coming from inside out.
Anda Scuba Diving House Reef
Philippines
This amazing house reef, right in front of the dive shop, is a wall starting at 5 m with a slope to 12 m, then a steep drop off to 30 m. Sandy canyons lead down to the depths.
Anilao Bo Hotel House Reef
Philippines
The house reef right in front of the Anilao Bo Hotel is a great dive spot for finding macro life at any time of day. There are so many macros inhabiting this place that you shouldn’t have to struggle to find them. It is the best site in Anilao that photo divers love because there is no current.
Antonio Gaudi
Japan
Antonio Gaudi is located on the west side of Shimoji Island next to Irabu Island, about 5 km west of Miyako Island. The name was given to the innumerable intricate and mysterious arches that look as if they were designed by Gaudi. Everyone is fascinated by the beauty that nature has created here.
Aplysina
Guadeloupe
At a depth of around 9 to 12m, this site offers a lovely walk on a reef that boasts an incredible number of rope sponges and other sponges, hence the name Aplysina.
Apo Scuba House Reef
Philippines
One of the best spots for macro diving—ideal for spotting fascinating and tiny critters. Dauin is a paradise for underwater photographers and macro enthusiasts, offering black sand dive sites teeming with rare and exotic marine life. The area’s nutrient-filled waters create the perfect habitat for muck diving.
Aquaventure Ship Wreck
Philippines
Opposite Aquaventure Reef Club. A blue buoy shows the line. Huge amount of fish living inside the wreck. The wreck sits at 35 mts. 2 other wreck heading back to the shore. One is an SUV and the other is an old helicopter. Follow the white buoy. The staff at Aquaventure are really helpful.
The ARC Sebastián de Belalcázar is a 68-meter WWII veteran warship sunk in 2004 as an artificial reef in Bahía Solano. Resting on a sandy bed at 40m, this historic wreck offers multiple penetration points for advanced divers, including the engine room and an onboard prison. An iconic Pacific dive.
Armageddon
United States
Apocalyptic mayhem at 80ft/24m, remnants of the old Frederiksted pier that was destroyed in Hurricane Hugo were dumped on this site. Lots of beams, tires and twisted steel to explore. Some reef sharks get a little close on this dive. Sea floor is at 101ft/30m.
As Doval de Fora
Spain
This is a rocky reef located in front of the famous Llas beach. Its full of life bottoms do not exceed 12m deep, so it is an ideal spot for beginners or for training in different specialties. You can dive between rocky channels and sandy corridors.