Smal
Dive site off Aruba. 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.
Smal: dive site off Aruba.
Entry
Entry points, depths, currents and any local rules will be added once we can verify them from official sources.
Near this sitegeotagged about 4.0 km from the site coordinates Orange cup coral (Tubastraea coccinea) · Eric Knight · CC BY 4.0 · iNaturalist
The surface noise falls away.
Reds go first. The world turns blue-green.
Then Smal rises to meet you.
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.
| Species | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|
Most-recorded species, all months
- Queen Conch (1)
- Variable wormsnail (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. 2,872 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 “Aruba, Curacao, and Bonaire” region. These are NOAA Coral Reef Watch satellite figures for the whole region, not for this one site.
Heat stress, measured from orbit.
NOAA CRW virtual station “Aruba, Curacao, and Bonaire”. 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.
Conditions
Average sea temperature through the year. Check the live readings before you go.
Average sea surface temperature by month: NOAA CRW “Aruba, Curacao, and Bonaire” station climatology (monthly means).
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.
Plan & prepare
- Read the official marine forecast the night before.Offshore, wind and sea state decide the day.
- Confirm access, hours and any fees with the site.[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.
Photographs from Smal
Openly licensed photos, each checked for location against its title, description, category or geotag. Labels show how close each one is to the site.
Credits
- Coordinates
- Wikidata Q21972968 (CC0). Wikidata (CC0) and OpenStreetMap (ODbL) features. Approximate positions; two use the named bay or island nearby.
- Species records
- GBIF.org, CC0 & CC BY 4.0 records. By license: CC_BY_4_0: 2,871, CC0_1_0: 1
- Dataset
- EOD – eBird Observation Dataset · doi:10.15468/aomfnb (2,868 records) · GBIF
- Dataset
- Natural History Museum Rotterdam - Specimens · doi:10.15468/kwqaay (2 records) · GBIF
- Dataset
- Birda - Global Observation Dataset · doi:10.15468/6kud7x (1 records) · GBIF
- Dataset
- NMNH Extant Specimen Records (USNM, US) · doi:10.15468/hnhrg3 (1 records) · GBIF
- Query
- https://api.gbif.org/v1/occurrence/search?decimalLatitude=12.423333,12.443332999999999&decimalLongitude=-69.96000000000001,-69.94&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 “Aruba, Curacao, and Bonaire”
- Hero photo
- Near this sitegeotagged about 4.0 km from the site coordinates Banded butterflyfish (Chaetodon striatus) · Eric Knight · CC BY 4.0 · iNaturalist
- Arrival photo
- Near this sitegeotagged about 4.0 km from the site coordinates Orange cup coral (Tubastraea coccinea) · Eric Knight · CC BY 4.0 · iNaturalist
- Gallery
- 7 photos, credited under each image
- Species photos
- Wikimedia Commons, credited with each species. Full list: Data & sources