Diving

Vanuatu and the outer islands in particular over incredible diving and the Santo region is a favorite for divers the world over. Why? The water temperature is perfect. The visibility is to die for. The coral and fish life is abundant and curious but most important of all are the dives themselves.

Widely varied and catering to all levels of skill and interest, the dive around Santo and Bokissa have it all.

During WWII, Espiritu Santo was a staging area for US forces in the South Pacific. As a result, there is not only a lot of military surplus on the island but also below on the seabed.

Struck by 'friendly' mines the SS President Coolidge now rests between 20 and 60m offering the worlds largest accessible wreck dive to anyone from novices to experts.

When the US armed forces left the region after the conflict, vast amounts of military surplus was literally driven into the ocean, now constituting the must see Million Dollar Point dive.

Many, many more world-class dive sites dot the local underwater landscape including the USS Tucker and Henry Bounaud. A more comprehensive list of dive sites is given below.

Dive log notes

Visibility: 30-35m at President Coolidge. 40-50m plus at outer reefs.
Temperature: 25-26 degrees C in midyear to 29-30 degrees C at years end.

Dive Site Descriptions

1. S.S. President Coolidge
The largest most accessible wreck dive in the world. The President Coolidge offers numerous dives varying in depth from 18m to 60m.

2. Million Dollar Point
An amazing array of military construction vehicles pushed into the sea by the Americans. An easy dive with depths ranging from a few meters down to 40m.

3. M.V. Henry Bonneaud
An old coastal freighter deliberately sunk as an artificial reef. The wreck lies upright on a sloping sea floor. Depths range from 30m at the stern to 45m at the bow. An excellent night dive with large numbers of flashlight fish present.

4. Numbawan Spot

5. Boffor Point
A pleasant shallow dive varying in depth from 10m to 15m. A sandy bottom with scattered coral bommies.

6. Tutuba Point
Excellent visibility of more than 40m generally greets the divers at this site. A Large expanse of reef sloping down gradually from 6m to 30m. There are caves, canyons and swim- throughs, with prolific hard and soft corals.

7. Jonah’s Reef
This dome shaped reef rises up from the bottom to within 8m of the surface. Abundant fish life make this an enjoyable dive.

8. Charlis Reef
Not quite a wall dive, however the reef starts in 5m of water and drops down at a 75 degree angle to 44m on the sand. Huge numbers of " lettuce " coral make this dive unique.

9. Fantastic
An isolated reef of Boffor point. Large numbers of Gorgonian fans make this dive a photographers delight.

10. Southern Cross
A large number of bommies rise up from 12m to the surface, making this site an interesting exploration area.

11. Gold Tops
The northern end of Bokissa island offers large flat area’s of reef with many small bommies and coral outcrops to explore.

12. Southern Canyons
Luxuriant coral growth abounds at this site. The depth varies from 5m to 18m. The reef edge has numerous coral canyons cut into it, each canyon having it’s own charm.