A dive briefing · St. Croix, St. Thomas & St. John, US Virgin Islands

Salt River Canyon

Dive site in the US Virgin Islands. 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.

US Virgin Islandswall

Near this sitegeotagged about 3.3 km from the site coordinates Boulder brain coral (Colpophyllia natans) · Will Sides · CC BY 4.0 · iNaturalist

Chapter I · Arrival

Salt River Canyon: dive site in the US Virgin Islands.

~17.778° N~64.756° W · Wikidata

10,583open records · GBIF

226+species recorded

Near this sitegeotagged about 3.3 km from the site coordinates French angelfish (Pomacanthus paru) · Will Sides · CC BY 4.0 · iNaturalist

Entry

Shore and boat entries vary by site. We list only rules we can cite from official sources; entry points, depths and currents will be added once we can verify them.

Approximate positionThese coordinates are the position of Salt River Bay; the canyons lie at its mouth. 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.

Local rules (cited)

Buck Island Reef National Monument: scuba diving is allowed only at the two designated scuba moorings in the north lagoon, not on the underwater trail. Do not stand on or handle corals. NPS · Buck Island Reef NM
Buck Island: private boats may anchor only in the anchorage area off West Beach. NPS · Buck Island Reef NM

Near this sitegeotagged about 3.3 km from the site coordinates French angelfish (Pomacanthus paru) · Will Sides · CC BY 4.0 · iNaturalist

**Open media** · Near this sitegeotagged about 3.3 km from the site coordinates Boulder brain coral (Colpophyllia natans) · Will Sides · CC BY 4.0 · iNaturalist

The surface noise falls away.

Reds go first. The world turns blue-green.

Then Salt River Canyon rises to meet you.

Boulder brain coral (Colpophyllia natans)

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 · 2,554 qualifying records

Life calendar · records per month for this site's most-recorded species (blank means not in that month's top list)

Species	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Mustard Hill Coral
Massive Starlet Coral
Great Star Coral
Bicolor Damselfish
Lettuce Coral
Redband Parrotfish
French Grunt
Yellowhead Wrasse
Princess parrotfish
Foureye butterflyfish
Symmetrical brain coral
Blue Chromis

Most-recorded species, all months

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. 10,583 qualifying records. See them on GBIF. Common names: Wikidata (CC0) / GBIF. Species photos: Wikimedia Commons, credited with each species.

Forty-one summers of heat

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

19852026

Reef health report · Virgin Islands

Heat stress, measured from orbit.

Degree Heating Weeks · 2026-10-139.5°C-weeks · NOAA status: Alert Level 2

NOAA CRW virtual station “Virgin 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

Conditions

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

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

NWS San Juan · marine forecasts (Puerto Rico & Virgin Islands) →NDBC 41052 · South of St. John, USVI (~52 km, open ocean) →

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

Read the official marine forecast the night before.Offshore, wind and sea state decide the day.
Check the cited local rules above and pay any park fee before you dive.[Placeholder: verified operator list to come]
Study this month's species above.You'll recognise more when you know the names.
Hands off, fins up, buoyancy dialled. Log what you see.Your sightings can become tomorrow's open data.

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Photographs from Salt River Canyon

Openly licensed photos, each checked for location against its title, description, category or geotag. Labels show how close each one is to the site.

**Princess parrotfish (Scarus taeniopterus)**Near this sitegeotagged about 3.3 km from the site coordinates Will Sides · CC BY 4.0 · iNaturalist

**Harlequin bass (Serranus tigrinus)**Near this sitegeotagged about 3.3 km from the site coordinates Will Sides · CC BY 4.0 · iNaturalist

**Mustard hill coral (Porites astreoides)**Near this sitegeotagged about 3.3 km from the site coordinates Will Sides · CC BY 4.0 · iNaturalist

**Graham's sheet coral (Agaricia grahamae)**Near this sitegeotagged about 3.3 km from the site coordinates Will Sides · CC BY 4.0 · iNaturalist

**Beaugregory (Stegastes leucostictus)**Near this sitegeotagged about 3.3 km from the site coordinates Will Sides · CC BY 4.0 · iNaturalist

**Creole wrasse (Bodianus parrae)**Near this sitegeotagged about 3.3 km from the site coordinates Will Sides · CC BY 4.0 · iNaturalist

**Blue chromis (Azurina cyanea)**Near this sitegeotagged about 3.3 km from the site coordinates Will Sides · CC BY 4.0 · iNaturalist

Credits

Coordinates: Wikidata Q32015030 (CC0) · position of Salt River Bay; the canyons lie at its mouth. Wikidata (CC0), mostly from US Geological Survey place names, plus one OpenStreetMap (ODbL) reef. Several use the named bay, cay or island, so treat them as approximate.
Species records: GBIF.org, CC0 & CC BY 4.0 records. By license: CC0_1_0: 7,683, CC_BY_4_0: 2,900
Dataset: U.S. Virgin Islands Territorial Coral Reef Monitoring Program Database (USVI-TCRMP) · doi:10.15468/dec2m2 (7,598 records) · GBIF
Dataset: EOD – eBird Observation Dataset · doi:10.15468/aomfnb (2,387 records) · GBIF
Dataset: NOAA National Coral Reef Monitoring Program Coral Demographic Data · doi:10.7289/v5vd6wts (295 records) · GBIF
Dataset: NOAA National Coral Reef Monitoring Program Coral Benthic Assessment Data · doi:10.7289/v5vd6wts (104 records) · GBIF
Dataset: Atlantic and Gulf Rapid Reef Assessment - Benthic · doi:10.15468/vmcydh (103 records) · GBIF
Dataset: USGS Marine Fishes of St. Croix and U.S. Virgin Islands · doi:10.15468/fbpxvo (44 records) · GBIF
Dataset: NMNH Extant Specimen Records (USNM, US) · doi:10.15468/hnhrg3 (21 records) · GBIF
Dataset: University of Texas, Biodiversity Center, Ichthyology Collection (TNHCi) · doi:10.15468/h8gxdr (8 records) · GBIF
Query: https://api.gbif.org/v1/occurrence/search?decimalLatitude=17.767778,17.787778000000003&decimalLongitude=-64.765833,-64.74583299999999&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 “Virgin Islands”
Hero photo: Near this sitegeotagged about 3.3 km from the site coordinates Boulder brain coral (Colpophyllia natans) · Will Sides · CC BY 4.0 · iNaturalist
Arrival photo: Near this sitegeotagged about 3.3 km from the site coordinates French angelfish (Pomacanthus paru) · Will Sides · CC BY 4.0 · iNaturalist
Gallery: 7 photos, credited under each image
Species photos: Wikimedia Commons, credited with each species. Full list: Data & sources