The reef’s name comes from a story when the site was first being explored by Raja Ampat dive pioneer, Max Amer.
Located east off the coast of Kri Island in Raja Ampat, Chicken Reef is a spectacular dive site known for its diverse marine life and dramatic underwater topography.
The reef’s name comes from a story when the site was first being explored by Raja Ampat dive pioneer Max Amer. The story goes that his dive buddy was petrified of sharks (even though they are small harmless reef sharks).
His buddy on the dive drew his knife and Max was so scared that he decided to name the site “Chicken Reef”.
This site is particularly famous for its healthy coral gardens, abundant fish life, and the opportunity for thrilling encounters with large predators.
Chicken Reef is characterized by large coral bommies, gorgonian fans, covering a submerged seamount. The topography is varied, with walls, sloping reefs, and deep channels. The reef is home to a dense array of soft corals, including table corals, feather corals, and black stag-horn corals, which provide shelter for an impressive number of fish species. The site is also dotted with anemones, creating a colourful and visually striking underwater landscape.
The maximum depth at Chicken Reef is approximately 30 meters (98 feet), making it suitable for divers of intermediate to advanced levels.
The majority of the dive occurs at shallower depths, with most of the action happening between 10 to 20 meters (33 to 66 feet), allowing for an extended exploration of the vibrant coral gardens.
Current conditions at Chicken Reef can vary, with moderate to strong currents often sweeping through the area. The site is best dived during incoming or outgoing tides, when visibility typically ranges between 15 to 30 meters (50 to 100 feet). The currents bring in nutrient-rich waters, attracting large schools of fish and pelagic predators.
Chicken Reef is best suited for divers with some experience, particularly those comfortable with drift diving and moderate currents. The site is ideal for those looking to photograph large schools of fish, healthy coral gardens, and exciting predator-prey interactions. Both wide-angle photographers and macro enthusiasts will find plenty to explore here.
The marine life at Chicken Reef is abundant, with something for every type of diver to enjoy. Large schools of fusiliers, surgeonfish, bluefin jacks, and butterflyfish are commonly spotted, while sweetlips, clown triggerfish, and snappers add pops of colour to the reef.
Large predatory fish such as barracudas, whitetip reef sharks, blacktip reef sharks, trevallies, and giant trevallies are frequent visitors, patrolling the reef in search of food.
In the shallower areas, you can often see large schools of bumphead parrotfish grazing on the coral, while Spanish mackerel and tuna occasionally make an appearance.
Smaller species, such as batfish, unicorn surgeonfish, red-margin shrimpgobies and angelfish, add diversity to the site’s marine life.
For macro enthusiasts, there are numerous critters to discover, including pygmy seahorses, mantis shrimps, flatworms, nudibranchs, and frogfish. Divers may also spot crocodile fish or wobbegong sharks hiding in the coral gardens.
This site can be dived either on rising or falling current and this will determine how we enter and navigate the site. On a rising current we will drop in on the north end of the site, keep the reef on our right-hand side and swim south.
On a falling tide, we will drop in on the south end, keep the reef on our left-hand side and swim north. Whichever direction we take, we will drop into the submerged seamount where the top is just 5 meters under the surface.
From here we will make our way down to about 20 meters where all the good stuff is to start exploring along the sloping reef. Of particular note are some nice bommies, abundant in marine life at the southern end of the site.
Click the burger icon on the right to expand/collapse
Topography: Submerged Seamount
Max Depth: 30 meters
Typical Current: Medium to Strong
Best For: Great Fish Diversity Similar to Cape Kri But on a Seamount.
Snorkeller Friendly.
Scuba diving, Snorkeling or just leisure? We got you.
Contact us today to turn your dream into reality. Let’s go!
