WHERE TO SEE ANEMONE, NEMO, CLOWNFISH in PHU QUOC SNORKELING SITES

anemone at Phu Quoc North-East coral reef, Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam

Phu Quoc Island is located in a tropical area thereby with favorable weather, many coral species have been growing in Phu Quoc water. And for those who are keen on exploring marine life, you must have had a great passion for contemplating coral reefs here, and curiosity for knowing what coral species you could see and where you could find them in Phu Quoc Island?

Phu Quoc Anemone - Phu Quoc Snorkeling tour
Anemone at Half-moon Reef – Phu Quoc Snorkeling tour

As the post title, we would like to clarify unaddressed related-anemone questions. Honestly, it’s not easy to find anemones in Phu Quoc Island. Here we find the minority existence of soft coral as well as anemone species or soft coral which is a kind of rarely-seen in Phu Quoc water.

Anemone Gardens in Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam

1. Ritteri Anemone in Phu Quoc Half-moon reef

At Half-moon Reef we could find this kind of anemone a lot at the depth of 3 – 6m, we have found out large golden Ritteri anemone colonies at Half-moon Reef or an Anemone ground which is covered by many small Ritteri anemone colonites at the depth of 5m here.

Our guest dived down to savor a close-up beauty of the Purple Anemone at the depth of 5 meter at Phu Quoc Half-moon reef.

Scott Nguyen was diving near a big anemone cluster to see cute clownfish
Free diving at anemone garden, Phu Quoc Half Moon Reef, Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam

 

 

2. Phu Quoc North-East coral reef

At Phu Quoc North-East coral reef, you can see even larger Ritteri Anemone clumps at shallower depths of 2 – 3m with the length is about 3 m.

Snorkeling to see anemone in Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam
Snorkeling to see anemone in Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam

A special thing of Phu Quoc North-east coral reef is that snorkelers and divers will see gardens of large-size corals such as 1.5 – 3-meter-wide table corals, pillar and plate coral garden which is 4 – 5m across or sea anemone gardens growth at a depth of 2m – 5m, flowerpot gardens cover an area of 6 – 8 square meters.

Anemone and nemo at Phu Quoc U-Turn Vietnam
Anemone and clownfish at Phu Quoc U-Turn Vietnam

At the depth of 3 – 6 you find large barrel sponges surrounded by sea urchins and anemones.

Due to the difficult-to-approach location, the health status of corals in the Northeast reef is still developing quite well and almost untouched or not damaged much, the coral mortality rate is as very low as 0% from OnBird’s observations.

anemone at Phu Quoc North-East coral reef, Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam
anemone at Phu Quoc North-East coral reef, Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam
anemone at Phu Quoc North-East coral reef, Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam
anemone at Phu Quoc North-East coral reef, Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam

Learn more about this fascinating reef in South Phu Quoc in the link to our blog below!

NORTH-EAST CORAL REEF – A CORAL CITY IN THE SOUTH OF PHU QUOC ISLAND

 

3. Carpet Anemone or Leather Coral:

We could find big Carpet anemone clumps in both Southern Phu Quoc and Northern Phu Quoc water, they are in golden color, especially at Phu Quoc Half-moon Reef and Phu Quoc U-Turn you could easily find their existence. In the North, at the Kingdom of Table Coral close to Turtle Island, there are fewer of this kind of anemone.

Phu Quoc things to do - Explore Golden Leather at Half-moon Reef
Phu Quoc Carpet Anemone Covered Cusp – Snorkeling at Half-moon Reef – Things to do in Phu Quoc Island

At other snorkeling sites such as Shallow Reef, we could find very small Carpet Anemone clump and at other coral reefs, you almost can not find anemones.

4. What kind of Nemo or Clownfish do you see in Phu Quoc?

The Pink Skunk Clownfish is very peaceful and can even be a little Timid. They are the calmest & least aggressive fish on the reef in Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam. 

6 7

Pink Skunk Clownfish is the most common clownfish observed in Phu Quoc sea, the combination of Dorsal stripe and Head Bar distinguishes it from most other clownfish species.

So sorry for having to tell you that it’s pretty difficult to find cute-looking Clown-fish in Phu Quoc like the one you watch in the cartoon “Finding Nemo”, the most popular anemone fish that we find in Phu Quoc is “Pink Skunk Clown-fish” or “Pink Anemone fish”, like all anemone-fishes, it forms a symbiotic mutualism with sea anemones and is unaffected by the stinging tentacles of the host. From coral reefs: Phu Quoc U-Turn, Half-moon Reef, Kingdom of Table Coral (North Phu Quoc), Four-season within the depth of 2 – 6 m we just find this kind of clown-fish.

Pink Skunk Clownfish is quite popular in Phu Quoc Island
Pink Skunk Clownfish is quite popular in Phu Quoc Island

However, there are still some other cute clownfish but rarely seen: Saddleback clownfish, their family lives with a carpet anemone, in contrast with Pink Skunk (who retract and hide into anemone tentacles when you get close to them), Saddleback clownfish are quite aggressive, if they get close to their home, they will swim and rush towards you as if wanting to ram you.

Saddleback clownfish in Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam
Saddleback clownfish is a kind of rarely-seen in Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam

Saddleback clownfish is aggressively territorial and is dependent on its host sea anemone which it uses as a shelter for the group and for the nest.

We found Saddleback clownfish uses Carpet Anemone as a shelter in Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam
We found Saddleback clownfish uses Carpet Anemone as a shelter in Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam