Kirby's Rock

A rock and reef near Caban Island

The Asri places Kirby’s Rock on Caban Island’s northeast face and lists a maximum depth of 108 feet (about 33 m). That is the operator’s published profile, not a surveyed boundary for every route.

The seamount and deeper boulder

Casa Escondida’s April 2026 guide describes Kirby’s Rock in the Tingloy area as a seamount rising from around 30 m to a few metres below the surface. It distinguishes a deeper submerged boulder with sea fans and crinoids. The Asri’s maximum listing and Casa Escondida’s terrain account do not establish a single measured limit for the whole reef.

Schooling fish and an unresolved identification

Casa Escondida reports schooling jacks and giant trevally and describes currents passing the wall. The report supports an operator-attributed wildlife account, without promising sightings or a particular current on the day. Its pygmy-seahorse wording is less clear: the main text uses “golden”, while a caption names Bargibant’s. That does not establish a Denise’s pygmy seahorse identification. Visitors interested in macro subjects should treat the species identification as unresolved and ask about recent, identifiable observations rather than assuming a particular animal lives at a fixed spot.

Route and conditions matter

Casa Escondida describes an advanced outing with currents. The earlier 5 m minimum is not established by the readable source material reviewed here. Confirm which side will be visited and the planned depth; the earlier guide’s much deeper wall claims remain unverified in this review.

A partial wildlife account

Sea-fan habitat and schooling fish feature in Casa Escondida’s account. This is not a dated species survey or evidence of a dependable encounter rate. Exact nudibranch hotspots, species identifications and seasonal conditions need site-specific records before they can be presented as established facts.

Sponges on the wall

Solitude World's Kirby's Rock account describes sponges among the corals on a vertical wall and includes barracudas in its wildlife list. These are additional operator-reported features alongside the sea fans and schooling fish described above, without a dated sighting record or a promise that a chosen route will encounter them.

Comparing the two formations

Blue Ribbon Divers describes a narrower canyon between the shallower and deeper pinnacles, with shallow terraces above. Its account warns that current can differ between the formations and change direction during a dive. That distinction helps explain why choosing a route involves more than choosing a single depth number. The operator's page also discusses separate technical-depth terrain; those sections are not part of a general recreational route recommendation here. Its account is credited to Anilao Dive Sites by Ram Yoro and Andrew Marriott, so it should not be counted as an independent new survey of the reef.