Along the wall – when are you along the “outer reef”?
You will often find yourself along a “wall” of corals with fish. But try to consider if it is a fairly sheltered reef, or not too deep (perhaps only 5-15 meters) before the reef ends with a sandy slope. If that is the case, then you are most likely not at the “outer reef”. Once you get to the more exposed parts of the reef, where the water current also may be stronger, and the reef is steep, that is where you will find the larger fish hanging out. It does not exclude all the smaller fish – and the larger fish may also be present along the reef in more sheltered areas – but the outer reef is the place where you are most likely to see the fish such as bigeye emperor, black snapper, doublebar bream, large schools of yellowfin goatfish, scrawled filefish. Once you have located some of these large fish, you can come back the following days – and they are likely to hang out more or less at the same place.
The seaward reef slopes are home to many species. So, remember to go slow, and you will see a lot.- also of the smaller ones that are easy to overlook, such as the Bandcheek wrasse. As many other fish, it can have varied colors, and may be as light as in the book or as dark as in the image below.
You may also find species that are not in the book – e.g. Chiseltooth wrasse. At least in my mind it is fairly easy to overlook, it is redish, and has a distinct white band at the base of the tail and darkblue tail (see it in the images above).