Davis Reef
A
2ft bronze statue of a seated Buddha was placed in the sand at the south
end of David Reef in 1989. Buddha’s head and belly are highly
polished from the hands of all the divers who’ve rubbed the statue for
good luck. An even smaller standing Buddha appears to be propping up
a magnificent globe of smooth brain coral about 20ft away.
The
topography at Davis Reef is very different from other nearby reefs.
Four mooring buoys are in place on the main part of the reef, a long coral
ledge running generally north-south. Lanward of the ledge
is a long sand flat, speckled with softball-sized hard corals and
diminutive sea plumes. The ledge is the central attraction at Davis,
rising 4 or 5ft above the sand and undercut deeply in places. Orange
elephant ear sponges encrust the underside and face of the ledge, and
hundreds of Caesar grunts, schoolmasters and bluestriped grunts shelter
cheek to cheek alongside the ledge.
If you cross perpendicular to the ledge and swim seaward, you’ll pass over a fairly uniform hard bottom with some scattered hard corals, including one very large and healthy starlet coral toward the north end of the reef. Most of these isolated coral mounds are cleaning stations, where juvenile Spanish hogfish and neon gobies eat the ectoparasites off bar jacks and other customers. After 150 to 200ft the hard bottom peters out, giving way to a vast sandy plain covered with large sea plumes and dozens of black loggerhead sponges.
Reproduced with permission from Diving & Snorkeling Florida Keys 2001 Lonely Plant Publications www.lonelyplanet.com