Sandnes Macro Reef

The sheltered waters of Gandsfjord between Stavanger and Sandnes host a series of rocky reef systems that are largely unknown outside Norwegian diving communities. The reefs sit in 6 to 28 metres and are blanketed in sponge and bryozoan communities that support an extraordinary density of dorid nudibranchs. This is one of the best sites in Norway specifically for photography — calm conditions, short boat ride, and subjects that stay still. Lumpsucker fish appear in late winter and early spring to breed, attaching their egg masses to rocks in the shallows in a display rarely witnessed by divers at most European sites.