Eastern Caribbean DVD $19.95 buy now

Fishy Business on Champagne Reef

Where It's At

Dominica is famous for the unusual underwater landscape which has developed around the crater of the submerged Soufriere volcano, attracting an amazing variety of tropical fish.

Natural Wonders

The puffa fish is a common sight here. When threatened it has the incredible ability to inflate itself into an unswallowably large size.

What appears to be a slimy green lump on first sight may turn out to be a frog fish, camouflaging itself upon some coral. Angel fish, in contrast, are some of the most colourful fish in the Caribbean, as are their close relative, the butterfly fish.

The trumpet fish may look like a loony tune, but it's actually a carnivore closely related to the barracuda. Male and female parrot fish, meanwhile, look completely different to each other, but often they travel in pairs.

Parrot fish are, unsurprisingly, drawn to the gorgeous Champagne Reef, which gets its name from its hot stream of volcanic gas bubbles. Brain coral, so called not because it is necessarily any more intelligent than the other corals (a common misunderstanding), but because it looks a lot like brains, grows in abundance here, and the Caribbean is home to some of the largest brain corals in the world.

Snorkelling is a great way to see the kaleidoscopic sea life lying in the warm, salty waters.