Named by Hugh Parkey after his son, Chuck Parkey, also known as Chasbo. This dive site on the Northwest side of the atoll is located at a point on the reef and is a fine example of wall diving on the Northwest side. Top of the wall is 45 feet and drops down to a ledge at 180 feet. Top of the wall consists of mostly scattered corals with defined sand patches in between covered in a forest of gorgonians. This point on the reef creates a slight current when the tide is changing bringing in plankton streams that nourish the corals. The wall consists mostly of plate coral and covered in soft corals with huge specimens of deep water sea fans and various other gorgonians as well as a variety of sponges. The current also attracts plankton feeders like huge schools of creole wrasse and smaller schools of scad and herring. They get so excited in the feeding frenzy that they attract predators of all sizes. Schools of black grouper, tiger grouper, dog snapper, cubera snapper, king fish, and cero stalk the water column. Solitary barracuda can be seen hovering close to the coral and sponges stalking prey. Schools of black durgon and yellow tail snapper are also in abundance here. Chasbo’s Corner is unique because we are occasionally treated with a pleasant surprise of unusual and strange sightings. Hammerhead, silky sharks, reef sharks, sailfish, pods of dolphin, pods of false orcas and even manatee have all been seen here before. This site is also excellent for a variety macro life. Various types of pipefish, slender file fish, decorator crabs, blennies, gobies, shrimp, cowries, and colonies of yellow head jawfish as well as the elusive sea horse are all present throughout this site. This unique site has been featured in international dive magazines before and is sometimes called the “Mini Elbow” by some dive operators.
Photo by Tony Rath
