PRO

Eighteen dive professionals weigh in with descriptions of their personal favourite local dive-sites – and we apologise in advance if they make you want to leave at once…

RMS Rhone British Virgin Islands 

by Matt Anderson

IN ATTEMPTING TO OUTRUN the San Narciso hurricane on 29 October, 1867, the RMS Rhone smashed against Black Rock Point on Salt Island and broke in half, following an explosion in which her hull was breached and seawater hit her superheated boilers.

The wreck has become the most renowned dive-site in the BVI, and one of the Caribbean’s best wreck dives. It’s located at 10-24m, so easily accessible to divers of all levels.

A two-tank dive is best to fully explore the bow and stern sections, which are about 30m apart at a 90° angle, while a night-dive is spectacular and not to be missed. The wreck and surrounding area became the BVI’s first national marine park in 1980. The 94m-long Rhone was one of the first ironhulled ships, powered by both sail and steam.

As well as her two masts, she had a single compound steam-engine to drive a gigantic threebladed bronze propeller, only the second bronze propeller ever built. Today this provides a great swim-through and photo opportunity.

The wreck is home to diverse sea life, including Fang the barracuda, octopuses, nurse sharks, turtles, moray eels, reef sharks, pufferfish and occasional rays and dolphins. There are many coral gardens, cleaning stations and nurseries.

Highlights of the bow section include the foremast and crow’s nest, main deck supports, bowsprit, exposed keel, lifeboat davits, encrusted signalling cannon and the condenser, the deepest point at 23-24m.

The stern section, between 10 and 18m, includes the aft mast, boilers, deck-supports that appear as vertical columns, wrench set, embedded silver teaspoon, gearbox, drive-shaft, propeller and “lucky porthole” – give it three rubs and make a wish.

On your next trip to the BVI, you’ll find us on Tortola at Hodge’s Creek Marina or the Moorings or on Cooper Island (or arrange a rendezvous) and can join us on one of our custom Newton diveboats for an epic dive on this wreck.

Matt is a Master Scuba Diver Trainer at Sail Caribbean Divers, and took the pictures. ●

Cap Norfeu Costa Brava, Spain

by Jan Boelen

CAP NORFEU, or “El Gat”, is one of the most famous dive-sites and landmarks in the marine park of Cap de Creus.

The pinnacle rises from a depth of 48m to within 12m of the surface, and its walls are covered with red coral and gorgonians.

Barracuda and grouper welcome you on every dive. You can observe how each of them behaves in protecting its own territory, and divers who are patient and resist the temptation to touch them can enjoy being investigated by these inquisitive fish.

You descend on the mooring line to a shallow plateau at 12m, then fin parallel with the coast to reach the pinnacle, circling it in accordance with your personal depth limits.

Staying at 18m it takes a good 15 minutes to cover, while if descending to 30m it would take about 30 minutes to circle. By ascending gradually towards the top of the pinnacle, however, deco can easily be avoided.

During the ascent you can still observe the grouper, as well as octopuses hiding from them.

Wandering around you’ll see moray eels sharing their space with other creatures, rock cod and hundreds of barracuda. Occasionally we enjoy visits from sunfish, which share their cleaning stations with dentex, dorada and corvina.

And if you have enough air you can also take in the Garage, where Flabellina nudibranchs and other invertebrates graze the rocky walls. It’s the Mediterranean at its best.

Jan is manager of Euro-Divers Cala Joncols. euro-divers.com. Photos by Paul Munzinger. ●

The Mystery Plane Coron Palawan, Philippines

by Serina Fahrenbach

PLUNGING INTO the middle of the sea, you see nothing but the abyss. The water is cold, there is no sign of life and your breathing is seemingly the only thing you hear.

After a few minutes, you begin to wonder if perhaps your dive-guide got lost and you’re in the wrong spot, heading nowhere.

Then suddenly a plane wreck emerges from a haze right before your eyes. It’s a Hayabusa Nakajima or “Peregrine Falcon”, a Japanese fighter that has sat at the bottom for more than 70 years.

Discovered only in 2016 by Sea Scan Survey, the Nakajima is believed to be one of several casualties of the Japanese Imperial Army during WW2 off Busuanga Island in Coron Palawan, the wreckdiving capital of the Philippines.

However, unlike other wrecks in the area, it is relatively intact and untouched, because of its late discovery and location further out to sea. It also lies about 40m deep.

It boasts a brightly coloured cockpit and an almost intact engine-room. To avoid stirring up sediment, you carefully glide  around the wreck and, as you point your torch under the wing, you see the undercarriage exposed and teeming with life.