Diving in Vanuatu – American War Wrecks
Posted on Jun 24, 2009 under Scuba Diving | No CommentSanto diving offers access to some of the world’s finest reefs and underwater caves, together with two of the world’s most accessible shipwrecks. Hundreds of colourful and interesting fish can be seen on the reefs, and in the underwater caves.
Great reef dives can be found in most areas of the coastline. The dive operators tend to stick to the south-east coast, the location of the wrecks of the USS President Coolidge and the USS Tucker and an area known as Million Dollar Point.
Wreck and reef diving is suitable for divers of any ability, provided they have completed basic training.
There are two quality wreck dives just meters from the Vanuatu coastline, both highly accessible to those diving on the island of Santo. The wrecks are both American ships that sunk during World War II.
The SS President Coolidge is a American luxury liner that was converted to a US troop ship during the second world war. It sank just meters from the shore and is now the premium dive in Santo, Vanuatu, and generally considered the largest accessible wreck dive in the world. Novices can dive the main bulk of the ship, whereas more experienced divers can go deeper into the wreck to look at life on the inside.
The second wreck is the SS Tucker, an American destroyer that was stationed in Vanuatu during the second world war. Sadly it was accidently sunk by one of the USA’s own mines, and now lies just offshore, close enough to be accessible to those diving in Santo.
Santo diving includes the relatively shallow Million Dollar Point, where divers can see huge areas of military war surplus that was simply dumped into the ocean when the Americans left Vanuatu at the end of the second world war. This Santo dive includes ammunition boxes, military vehicles and even the odd bulldozer – items which understandably make this one the most popular sites when diving in Santo.
