Mpunguti ya Juu

A submerged reef plateau rising to 8 m on the northern flank of Mpunguti ya Juu island, this site offers the most sheltered conditions in the marine park and is often accessible when surge closes Kisite Reef. The shallower reaches are blanketed in tabulate corals and brain corals, and the southern edge drops in a series of rubble-strewn steps to 30 m where large potato groupers hold territory alongside resident nurse sharks. Schools of yellowfin goatfish probe the sandy patches between coral heads and in the blue water above, great barracuda and bigeye trevally form silvery hunting tornadoes in the early morning.