ReefSeason BETAPrologue
Purple sea fan (Gorgonia ventalina)
A dive briefing · Dominica

Pointe Guignard

Dive site off Dominica’s west coast. Here's what has been recorded at this site month by month, how the region’s reefs have weathered ocean heat, and how to prepare.

Dominicareef
Near this sitegeotagged about 1.4 km from the site coordinates Purple sea fan (Gorgonia ventalina) · My-Lan Le · CC BY 4.0 · iNaturalist
Yellow tube sponge (Aplysina fistularis)
Chapter I · Arrival

Pointe Guignard: dive site off Dominica’s west coast.

~15.233° N~61.383° W · Wikidata
22open records · GBIF
15species recorded
Near this sitegeotagged about 1.4 km from the site coordinates Yellow tube sponge (Aplysina fistularis) · My-Lan Le · CC BY 4.0 · iNaturalist
II

Entry

Yellow tube sponge (Aplysina fistularis)

Entry points, depths, currents and any local rules will be added once we can verify them from official sources.

Approximate positionThese coordinates are the position of the point. Use them for orientation only.
To verifyDepth range, entry points and current notes. We publish them only with a citation. The coordinates mark the site in general, not a mooring or entry point.

Near this sitegeotagged about 1.4 km from the site coordinates Yellow tube sponge (Aplysina fistularis) · My-Lan Le · CC BY 4.0 · iNaturalist

Purple sea fan (Gorgonia ventalina)
Open media · Near this sitegeotagged about 1.4 km from the site coordinates Purple sea fan (Gorgonia ventalina) · My-Lan Le · CC BY 4.0 · iNaturalist

The surface noise falls away.

Reds go first. The world turns blue-green.

Then Pointe Guignard rises to meet you.

Purple sea fan (Gorgonia ventalina)
IV

What lives here, by month

Pick a month. These are the species most often recorded within about a kilometre in that month, from open survey records.

Oct
October · 0 qualifying records
Life calendar · records per month for this site's most-recorded species (blank means not in that month's top list)
SpeciesJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Trumpetfish
Common sea fan
White Encrusting Zoanthid
Sperm whale
Orange cup coral
Spotted Scorpionfish
Bluehead Wrasse
Stoplight Parrotfish
Redlip Blenny
Yellowtail Damselfish
Conger Moray
Caribbean hermit crab

Most-recorded species, all months

  1. Trumpetfish (2)
  2. Common sea fan (2)
  3. White Encrusting Zoanthid (2)
  4. Orange cup coral (1)
  5. Spotted Scorpionfish (1)
  6. Bluehead Wrasse (1)
  7. Stoplight Parrotfish (1)
  8. Redlip Blenny (1)
  9. Yellowtail Damselfish (1)
  10. Conger Moray (1)
  11. Caribbean hermit crab (1)
  12. Lettuce slug (1)
  13. Banded butterflyfish (1)
  14. Sperm whale (1)
  15. Knobby brain coral (1)

GBIF.org (2026-10-15), occurrence records within ~1 km, licensed CC0 or CC BY 4.0 only. Birds and land animals are excluded. Counts reflect survey effort, not abundance. 22 qualifying records. See them on GBIF. Common names: Wikidata (CC0) / GBIF. Species photos: Wikimedia Commons, credited with each species.

V

Forty-one summers of heat

Each stripe is one year since 1985, colored by its peak heat stress across NOAA's “Leeward Caribbean Islands” region. These are NOAA Coral Reef Watch satellite figures for the whole region, not for this one site.

19852026
Reef health report · Leeward Caribbean Islands

Heat stress, measured from orbit.

Degree Heating Weeks · 2026-10-1310.1°C-weeks · NOAA status: Alert Level 2

NOAA CRW virtual station “Leeward Caribbean Islands”. NOAA's alert thresholds are 4 °C-weeks (Alert Level 1) and 8 °C-weeks (Alert Level 2). Station page · Method. Credit: NOAA Coral Reef Watch.

Peak per year · dashed lines at 4, 8 and 16 °C-weeks
The past twelve months
VI

Conditions

Average sea temperature through the year. Check the live readings before you go.

Average sea surface temperature by month: NOAA CRW “Leeward Caribbean Islands” station climatology (monthly means).

Dominica Meteorological Service · forecasts →

Buoy readings are measurements; forecasts are models. Use them for planning only, and assess conditions on site. Depth and visibility data aren't listed until we can cite a source.

VII

Plan & prepare

  1. Read the official marine forecast the night before.Offshore, wind and sea state decide the day.
  2. Confirm access, hours and any fees with the site.[Placeholder: verified operator list to come]
  3. Study this month's species above.You'll recognise more when you know the names.
  4. Hands off, fins up, buoyancy dialled. Log what you see.Your sightings can become tomorrow's open data.

Credits

Coordinates
Wikidata Q23756198 (CC0) · position of the point. OpenStreetMap (ODbL) dive-site nodes on the northwest coast; the Soufrière–Scotts Head sites use Wikidata (CC0) positions of the nearby beach or headland, so they are approximate.
Species records
GBIF.org, CC0 & CC BY 4.0 records. By license: CC_BY_4_0: 21, CC0_1_0: 1
Dataset
iNaturalist Research-grade Observations · doi:10.15468/ab3s5x (18 records) · GBIF
Dataset
EOD – eBird Observation Dataset · doi:10.15468/aomfnb (3 records) · GBIF
Dataset
Happywhale - Sperm whale in North Atlantic Ocean · doi:10.82144/7629ad4a (1 records) · GBIF
Query
https://api.gbif.org/v1/occurrence/search?decimalLatitude=15.223333,15.243333&decimalLongitude=-61.393333,-61.373333&license=CC0_1_0&license=CC_BY_4_0&taxonKey=44&taxonKey=206&taxonKey=229&taxonKey=136&taxonKey=225&occurrenceStatus=PRESENT&limit=0
Heat stress & SST
NOAA Coral Reef Watch, 5 km Regional Virtual Station “Leeward Caribbean Islands”
Hero photo
Near this sitegeotagged about 1.4 km from the site coordinates Purple sea fan (Gorgonia ventalina) · My-Lan Le · CC BY 4.0 · iNaturalist
Arrival photo
Near this sitegeotagged about 1.4 km from the site coordinates Yellow tube sponge (Aplysina fistularis) · My-Lan Le · CC BY 4.0 · iNaturalist
Gallery
7 photos, credited under each image
Species photos
Wikimedia Commons, credited with each species. Full list: Data & sources