Lionfish Diving: Where to See It, Season, Precautions

The lionfish is a 40-centimeter scorpionfish bristling with venomous spines, found in the shallows on Red Sea and Indian Ocean reefs. It is beautiful to watch, but you must not touch it.

Where to dive to see the Lionfish?

The upright bow of the Giannis D, covered in growth, with three divers at the foot of the wreck in blue water full of bubbles

EgyptReef

Abu Nuhas wrecks

Central Red Sea, Egypt

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Peak season all year round: in the passageways and under the plates, on all four wrecks

Two divers hovering in the deep blue above a garden of plate and table corals, surrounded by yellow and black striped sergeant majors, their bubbles rising toward the surface.

PhilippinesReef

Apo Island

Visayas: Cebu, Bohol and Negros

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Peak season all year round: at Mamsa Point and under the overhangs of the wall

A sea turtle rising diagonally through the blue, front flippers raised and its dark shell covered in algae, in front of a school of fusiliers on the left.

IndonesiaReef

Batu Bolong

Komodo

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Peak season all year round: under the overhangs on the sheltered side

A diver in a black wetsuit facing the camera, framed by red sea fans and orange soft corals where small anthias swim, against blue water.

IndonesiaReef

Cape Kri

Raja Ampat

JFMAMJJASOND

Peak season all year round: under overhangs and in cracks on the upper slope

A huge school of fish in silhouette, seen from below against the sunlight sparkling under the surface, in deep blue water.

IndonesiaPelagic

Castle Rock

Komodo

JFMAMJJASOND

Peak season all year round: in the cracks on top, out of the current

In murky green-turquoise water, the dark silhouette of a wreck whose mast, covered in whip corals, rises on the right above an encrusted superstructure.

PhilippinesWreck

Coron wrecks

Palawan

JFMAMJJASOND

Peak season all year round: all over the Akitsushima, the Irako, the Okikawa Maru and the East Tangat Gunboat

A hawksbill turtle seen from above swims just over rocks covered in algae, brain corals, gorgonians and yellow tube sponges, in green-turquoise water

FranceReef

Cousteau Reserve (Pigeon Islands)

French West Indies: Guadeloupe and Martinique

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Can be seen all year round: an invasive species in the Caribbean, sheltering under the rocks

A gray sunfish with pale spots, seen three-quarters on in open blue water, its long dorsal and anal fins stretched out, surrounded by small reef fish.

IndonesiaPelagic

Crystal Bay

Bali and Nusa Penida

JFMAMJJASOND

Peak season all year round: under the islet's overhangs

Two divers follow the outer wall of the Blue Hole, covered in hard corals and anthias, with the deep blue on the left

EgyptShore dive

Dahab Blue Hole

Northern Red Sea, Egypt

JFMAMJJASOND

Peak season all year round: under the overhangs inside the hole and in the Bells

A lionfish with brown stripes and long fins spread out in front of red soft corals and a yellow fire coral

EgyptWreck

Dunraven wreck

Northern Red Sea, Egypt

JFMAMJJASOND

Peak season all year round: in the shade of the hull, by the dozens

A cloud of orange anthias above a hard coral reef, in clear blue water

EgyptReef

Giftun Islands

Central Red Sea, Egypt

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Peak season all year round: under the overhangs, in the late afternoon

A Moorish idol striped black and yellow, its long white dorsal filament stretched out, in front of a wall covered in red sponges and soft corals at Hin Daeng

ThailandPelagic

Hin Daeng and Hin Muang

Andaman Sea: Similan, Surin and Lanta

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Peak season from October to May: spotfin lionfish in groups on the red sponges of Hin Daeng

Close-up of an orange hairy frogfish striped with brown and covered in filaments, its small eye gleaming and mouth half open, against a black background.

IndonesiaReef

Lembeh Strait

Sulawesi: Bunaken and Lembeh

JFMAMJJASOND

Peak season all year round: on isolated boulders and jetty pilings

A bluespotted ribbontail ray resting on the sand under a coral overhang, in turquoise water

TanzaniaReef

Mnemba Atoll

Zanzibar

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Peak season all year round: under the coral ledges, at Kichwani and Wattabomi

A wall of fire coral and hard corals with anthias and damselfish, sunlight shining through the surface

EgyptReef

Panorama Reef

Central Red Sea, Egypt

JFMAMJJASOND

Peak season all year round: under the table corals and in the crack

Aerial view of Pescador Island, a rock covered in green vegetation with its white lighthouse, surrounded by about ten dive bancas on a dark blue sea

PhilippinesReef

Pescador Island

Visayas: Cebu, Bohol and Negros

JFMAMJJASOND

Peak season all year round: in groups in the crevices of the wall

A wall of pink soft corals and an orange sea fan at Richelieu Rock, in front of a cloud of glassfish and a school of yellowtail fusiliers in the blue

ThailandPelagic

Richelieu Rock

Andaman Sea: Similan, Surin and Lanta

JFMAMJJASOND

Peak season from October to May: by the dozen in the cracks and under the overhangs

In deep blue water, two divers in silhouette follow the stern railing of the Salem Express, the tilted deck on the right

EgyptWreck

Salem Express wreck

Central Red Sea, Egypt

JFMAMJJASOND

Peak season all year round: in the shade of the superstructure

Two divers swim along the deck of the Thistlegorm beside a passageway, in milky blue water

EgyptWreck

SS Thistlegorm

Northern Red Sea, Egypt

JFMAMJJASOND

Peak season all year round: in the shade of the holds and passageways

How do you identify a lionfish?

The Red Sea lionfish is the devil firefish, Pterois miles, a cousin of Pterois volitans, which takes over from Indonesia eastward. Males approach 40 centimeters. The body carries irregular white and colored bands, from pale orange to black depending on the habitat, and long pointed appendages, most of them venomous. Juveniles are dark, with very large pectoral fins.

Where does the lionfish live?

It lives in the shallows of coral ecosystems, from the Red Sea across the Indian Ocean to the Maldives. Introduced by accident to the Caribbean, where it has become invasive, it reached the eastern Mediterranean more recently through the Suez Canal: with no predators there, it is spreading fast and wiping out small fish.

Where do you find lionfish on a Red Sea dive?

On Red Sea wrecks, you find it sheltering under the plating and in the holds, often motionless, fins spread. It lets you get close for a photo, and that is exactly the danger: the dorsal spines sting as soon as a hand or a knee brushes them.

Our tip

It does not flee, and that is its trap: photograph it head-on, from a distance, without ever putting your hand near the fins. A sting is treated with hot water and by a doctor.