Grand Central Station, Gizo, Solomon Islands

I’ve never been to New York’s Grand Central Station, but I suspect the name of this Grand Central Station dive site near Gizo in Solomons Western Province is derived from the sheer numbers of folks just passing through.

Being on the northern most tip of Gizo, it usually has great visibility and the biggest variety of fish life – from the smallest to the largest. It can be done as a great double dive day with the Toa Maru – and lunch on a deserted island, cooked by Dive Gizo‘s dive guide and boat man.

The dive starts by running down a gully off the edge of the reef top.

It then follows along a wall to the point.

At this point it would have been great to have had a reef hook though we managed to find a few outcrops of rock to hang on to with a finger hold. Out in the blue in front of us there are schools of Fusiliers, Trevallies and Jack’s attracting grey reef sharks who cruise by and by and by.

Then they return – hidden amongst the fusiliers.

Next the Barracuda arrive, first in ones – then in manys!

And this brings back the grey reefies.

Next an eagle ray, after that unicornfish, followed by surgeons. The whole thing is like a Solomons dive-in movie.

After 20 minutes just watching the coming and mainly going we move back along the wall to the more sheltered shallow reef and mooring. There are a couple of gullies running down through the steeply sloping wall so navigation is easy and the actual point where most of the action happens is probably only 60 m from the mooring.

Up at 14 m there is a whole new crowd, the butterflies, angels and wrasse; and then, above 8 m there are the damsels, anthias and humbugs.

Above the 14 m mark the corals are all in great shape and make perfect backdrops.

If you’re not completely distracted by the ‘big show’ going on around you. There are still nudis to be found, like this little beauty: Kos Chromodoris.

After an hour were at 50 bar and reluctantly return to the boat which is hovering in sight above us.