The Valley
Dive site off Curaçao. 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.
The Valley: dive site off Curaçao.
Entry
Entry points, depths, currents and any local rules will be added once we can verify them from official sources.
At this site Diving Coaster - Happy Valley Shanghai 10 · Jeremy Thompson from United States of America · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
The surface noise falls away.
Reds go first. The world turns blue-green.
Then The Valley 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dusky Damselfish | ||||||||||||
| Bluehead Wrasse | ||||||||||||
| Redlip Blenny | ||||||||||||
| Caribbean Coralsnail | ||||||||||||
| Blackbar Soldierfish | ||||||||||||
| Puddingwife wrasse | ||||||||||||
| Clown Wrasse | ||||||||||||
| French angelfish | ||||||||||||
| Marbled Moray | ||||||||||||
| Spinyhead blenny | ||||||||||||
| Saddled Blenny | ||||||||||||
| Plate fish |
Most-recorded species, all months
- Dusky Damselfish (17)
- Bluehead Wrasse (13)
- Redlip Blenny (13)
- Blackbar Soldierfish (12)
- Puddingwife wrasse (12)
- Clown Wrasse (12)
- French angelfish (12)
- Caribbean Coralsnail (12)
- Marbled Moray (10)
- Spinyhead blenny (9)
- Saddled Blenny (9)
- Plate fish (9)
- Dusky Squirrelfish (8)
- Redspotted Hawkfish (8)
- Hairy Blenny (8)
- Mimic blenny (8)
- Cleaner Goby (7)
- Blackedge Triplefin (6)
- False Moray (6)
- Helmet coralsnail (6)
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. 3,315 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 The Valley
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
- OpenStreetMap node/448022080 · source · ODbL. OpenStreetMap (ODbL) dive-site nodes, plus two Wikidata (CC0) reef items. Crowd-sourced, approximate positions. Approximate position.
- Species records
- GBIF.org, CC0 & CC BY 4.0 records. By license: CC_BY_4_0: 3,003, CC0_1_0: 312
- Dataset
- EOD – eBird Observation Dataset · doi:10.15468/aomfnb (2,857 records) · GBIF
- Dataset
- NMNH Material Samples (USNM) · doi:10.15468/jb9tdf (196 records) · GBIF
- Dataset
- NMNH Extant Specimen Records (USNM, US) · doi:10.15468/hnhrg3 (111 records) · GBIF
- Dataset
- International Barcode of Life project (iBOL) · doi:10.15468/inygc6 (78 records) · GBIF
- Dataset
- NABU|naturgucker · doi:10.15468/uc1apo (21 records) · GBIF
- Dataset
- INSDC Sequences · doi:10.15468/sbmztx (16 records) · GBIF
- Dataset
- Birda - Global Observation Dataset · doi:10.15468/6kud7x (10 records) · GBIF
- Dataset
- iNaturalist Research-grade Observations · doi:10.15468/ab3s5x (7 records) · GBIF
- Query
- https://api.gbif.org/v1/occurrence/search?decimalLatitude=12.20852,12.22852&decimalLongitude=-69.0963,-69.07629999999999&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
- At this site Viewing Chamber-Moapa Valley NWR · Pacific Southwest Region U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
- Arrival photo
- At this site Diving Coaster - Happy Valley Shanghai 10 · Jeremy Thompson from United States of America · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Gallery
- 7 photos, credited under each image
- Species photos
- Wikimedia Commons, credited with each species. Full list: Data & sources