Michael McFadyen's Scuba Diving - Inside Naru Island
To the south-east of Gizo is Naru Island. This is located on the western side of Ferguson Passage, one of the entrances to Blackett Strait (the waterway between Ghizo Island and Kolombangara Island). It is about a 20 minute run to this dive site from Gizo.
This actual dive is inside the lagoon, drifting with the outgoing tide towards the north. You enter the water off the southern end of the island and drop to the reef top at 10 metres. The reef here drops to over 35 metres in a gradually sloping wall. The sandy bottom here is home to huge numbers of garden eels that sway back and forth in the current. As you approach, they drop back into their holes, returning only after you are 15 or 20 metres away.
There are normally a few whitetip or grey reef sharks and some large rays. There are also lots of triggerfish, especially the large and sometimes agressive titan triggerfish. There are dozens of small rays on the sand and all the normal reef fish.
After a while you will need to ascend due to the depth and a gradual rise to 13 metres after about 18 minutes will keep you out of decompression. You can spend a long time in the shallows, moving about in the 7 to 13 metre depth range. Look carefully and you may even see crocodilefish (they are sort of like a flathead). We saw two right next to each other.
Finally, spend the last part of the dive in the five metre area of the reef as a safety stop and ascend so the boat can pick you up.
Another very nice dive, visibility about 25 metres, water temperature of 27.5°C.
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