Thunderball Reef

Thunderball Reef sits near Staniel Cay in the Exuma Cays, Bahamas, a shallow reef made famous by its use as a filming location for the James Bond film Thunderball and later Never Say Never Again. The site is a popular shallow snorkel and dive spot, with coral heads and swim-through grottos in the rock formations that draw abundant reef fish, often including sergeant majors and grunts that gather in the light shafts inside the caverns. Depths here are shallow, generally under 10 to 15 metres, making it accessible to snorkelers as well as divers. Currents can pick up around the tidal flow through the cut, so timing a visit with slack tide is common practice among local operators out of Staniel Cay.

Confirmed by our research team, reported by independent divers, or observed nearby via iNaturalist — each entry is labelled with its source.

• Nurse SharkGinglymostoma cirratumReported here · unconfirmed
• Schoolmaster SnapperLutjanus apodusReported here · unconfirmed
• Atlantic Sergeant MajorAbudefduf saxatilisReported here · unconfirmed
• Caribbean Bluehead WrasseThalassoma bifasciatumReported here · unconfirmed
• Mustard Hill CoralPorites astreoidesReported here · unconfirmed
• Queen AngelfishHolacanthus ciliarisReported here · unconfirmed
• Southern StingrayHypanus americanusReported here · unconfirmed
• Rock BeautyHolacanthus tricolorReported here · unconfirmed
• Atlantic Blue TangAcanthurus coeruleusReported here · unconfirmed
• GrouperGrouperReported here · unconfirmed
• SnapperSnapperReported here · unconfirmed
• BarracudaBarracudaReported here · unconfirmed