Chanel No. 5
Chanel No. 5 is a dive site in Raja Ampat, Indonesia. Currents typically run at 1.8 km/h and reach 3.8 km/h on the strongest days. Water temperatures range from 29°C in February to 30°C in November. The typical daily tidal range is about 0.9 m. Species recorded in the area include Tasselled Wobbegong, Rockmover Wrasse, Chevron Butterflyfish, Oriental Sweetlips and Eviota longirostris.
Dive Conditions
Data sources: currents and water temperature from Open-Meteo Marine (CC BY 4.0), hourly model values 2024. Tidal range is the median daily range of modelled sea level from Open-Meteo Marine, hourly values 2024. Species observations from iNaturalist, checked against the World Register of Marine Species.
Conditions at Chanel No. 5 through the year
Sea surface temperature at the site coordinates, averaged per month from hourly model values for 2024. The water is warmest in November at about 30 °C and coolest in February at about 29 °C, a spread of 1 degrees across the year.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29.7 | 29.4 | 29.8 | 30.1 | 30.2 | 30.1 | 29.6 | 29.7 | 29.7 | 30.0 | 30.4 | 30.3 |
Ocean current at the site runs at a typical 1.8 km/h. In the strongest tenth of the hours modelled for 2024 it reaches 3.8 km/h, which is when entries are normally timed to slack water at the turn of the tide.
The tide moves the water level by a median 0.9 m over a day, and by up to 1.3 m on the largest days of the month. That range drives how much water is exchanged over the reef and when the current turns.
In the open sea off Chanel No. 5, the highest wave of the day exceeded 1.5 m on 1.5 % of days between 2015 and 2024. The roughest month was February (5 % of days), the calmest May (0 %).
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Satellite habitat mapping places Chanel No. 5 on an outer reef slope, over a seabed mapped as coral and algae. The classification comes from the nearest mapped reef polygon, about 40 m from the listed coordinates, so it describes the reef the site sits on rather than a single point on it.
How Chanel No. 5 compares
These comparisons use only the measured values above, set against the 376 dive sites published on findadive.com. A percentage shows the share of other sites with a lower (or higher) value, so it reads the same way wherever the site is. Chanel No. 5 sits with its coolest-month water temperature in the top tenth and its tidal range in the bottom tenth of all listed sites.
| Measure | This site | Compared with all sites | Median in Raja Ampat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mean water temperature | 29.9 °C | warmer than 89 % of the other 375 sites | 29.9 °C (36 sites) |
| Water temperature in the coolest month | 29.4 °C | warmer than 94 % of the other 375 sites | 29.4 °C (36 sites) |
| Typical current | 1.8 km/h | stronger than 62 % of the other 375 sites | 1.9 km/h (36 sites) |
| Current in the strongest 10 % of hours | 3.8 km/h | stronger than 66 % of the other 375 sites | 3.6 km/h (36 sites) |
| Median daily tidal range | 0.9 m | smaller than 94 % of the other 375 sites | 1.0 m (36 sites) |
Water temperature, current and tide from Open-Meteo Marine (CC BY 4.0), hourly model values for 2024 at -0.1831°, 130.2138°. Wave statistics from ERA5-Ocean via Open-Meteo Marine (contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2015–2024), daily maximum wave height on a 0.5° grid; land shelter tested against Natural Earth coastlines. Reef structure and seabed cover from the Allen Coral Atlas © 2018–2023 Allen Coral Atlas Partnership and Arizona State University (CC BY 4.0).
Marine life recorded at this site
Research-grade observations from iNaturalist within about 12 km of these coordinates.
