Suzie's Bommie

Kavieng · New Ireland · Papua New Guinea

Suzie's Bommie is a solitary coral head rising from the sandy lagoon floor near Kavieng in Papua New Guinea's New Ireland Province. This modest-looking structure, roughly 10 metres in diameter and rising from 18 metres to within 4 metres of the surface, has earned a reputation as one of the most species-dense dive sites on the planet. What it lacks in size it compensates for with an almost absurd concentration of marine life that has made it a legend among underwater photographers. The bommie's surface is a mosaic of gorgonian fans, soft corals, sponges, tunicates, and hard coral colonies. Within this living tapestry, the macro riches are extraordinary. Multiple species of pygmy seahorse inhabit the gorgonians, including the celebrated Bargibant's pygmy seahorse with its pink tuberculate body matching its host fan. Ghost pipefish hover vertically among crinoids, their leaf-like bodies swaying in mild current. Painted frogfish sit motionless on sponges, waiting to ambush passing prey with their lightning-fast strike. Dozens of nudibranch species crawl across the bommie's surfaces, from the large and flamboyant to the tiny and cryptic. Leaf scorpionfish perch on coral ledges, indistinguishable from dead leaves until they shift position. Ornate cuttlefish display their mesmerising colour patterns on the sandy base, and porcelain crabs filter-feed from the safety of anemone tentacles. Above this macro wonderland, the wider picture is equally compelling. Schools of chevron barracuda orbit the bommie in lazy circles, joined by teira batfish and pennant bannerfish. The surrounding sand reveals garden eels swaying like a field of grass, and mantis shrimps peer from their burrows. The bommie can be circumnavigated multiple times in a single dive, revealing different subjects with each circuit. Photographers routinely describe Suzie's as the most productive macro dive of their careers, and many return to Kavieng specifically for repeat visits to this single extraordinary coral head.