WRECKS & ARTIFICIAL REEFS

MV Courageous was originally a 189-foot-long (57.5-meter) oceangoing cargo vessel. purchased by the Air Force for use in a demonstration of a new weapons delivery system. The vessel was sunk by the US Air Force as part of a weapons test off the coast of Okaloosa County, Florida, on April 28, 2022. The blast broke the ship in two halves, which now rest side by side on a sandy seabed at a depth of 130 feet (39.5 meters).

The C53 Felipe Xicotencatl, usually just referred to as the C53, was a US Navy minesweeper that was sunk as an artificial in 1999. The depth ranges from 75 feet (23 meters) on the seabed, to 33 feet (10 meters) at the shallowest point. The wreck is 184 feet (56 meters) in length and provides penetration opportunities for those with the necessary certification and experience.

Doc Poulson (also spelled Polson in some references) was a Japanese-made cable-laying tug sunk as an artificial reef in 1981. She was the first artificial reef sunk in Grand Cayman and was named after Dr. James “Jimmie” Poulson, the island’s first diving doctor. He was also responsible for setting up the island’s first hyperbaric chamber for the treatment of decompression sickness.

The Mermaid Statue, located on the reef at Sunset House is officially known as Amphitrite. She was created by Canadian sculptor, Simon Morris, in November 2000 as both a new attraction for divers and a way to ease the strain of underwater traffic on the dive resort’s magnificent house reef. The statue is made of bronze and is dedicated to military divers.

RMS Rhone was a British Royal Mail sail-steamer that sank off Salt Island in the British Virgin Islands during a hurricane on October 29, 1867. The ship now rests in several pieces at depths ranging from 85 feet (26 meters) up to snorkeling depth. The fascinating history and species richness and complexity of the site make the Rhone one of the top dive and snorkel sites in the world.