The dive
Two adjacent shallow sites off the island, dived constantly and never boring. The coral story is the staghorn: dense, fast-growing thickets whose cylindrical branches shelter half the site's population. Around and beyond the coral, open sand runs the classic Mabul programme.
Residents
Blue-spotted mask rays and whiptail rays over the sand; mandarin fish deep in the staghorn's protective branches; and on Paradise 1's bare-looking muck stretches, the specialists — seahorses and the mimic octopus, the two finds that make guides grin. Large groupers patrol the nearby structures. The apparently empty terrain is the point: this is the site where trusting the guide's eyes pays best.
The naming note
As with Froggy Lair, operator maps disagree on where Froggies ends and Paradise begins — some treat them as one site. The diving does not care; neither should you.
Conditions and level
- Depth: shallow — the coral gardens sit comfortably within Open Water range
- Suits: beginners to obsessive photographers, which is why it is the island's most-dived address
