Anilao, the area around Aquaventure Ship Wreck

Anilao · Philippines · Wreck

Aquaventure Ship Wreck

A 35 m hull, then an SUV and a helicopter on the way back

Area photo: andre oortgijs · CC BY-SA 3.0

A ship wreck lying at 35 metres opposite Aquaventure Reef Club, reached down a line marked by a blue buoy. Two smaller wrecks, an SUV and an old helicopter, sit closer to shore on a white buoy and are usually worked into the way back. The hull holds a lot of fish, which is the main reason divers come rather than the vessel itself.

Where it is and how deep

Depth profile of Aquaventure Ship Wreck: typical dive to 35 m (to 115 ft) 18 m · Open Water30 m · Advanced40 m · Recreational limit35 mtypical dive
Depths on a shared scale to 40 m (130 ft); dashed lines mark common certification limits.

13.7265° N, 120.8830° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.

The dive

The dive starts on the blue buoy, which marks the line down to the main wreck at 35 metres. That depth sets the shape of everything that follows: you drop straight down the line, spend a short working period on the hull, then start moving shallow rather than lingering. There is a large amount of fish living inside the wreck, and the openings are where divers spend their bottom time, lighting up batfish and the hundreds of small fish sheltering inside.

Heading back towards shore there are two further wrecks to pick up, an SUV and an old helicopter, found by following the white buoy. They sit shallower than the ship, so they fall naturally into the ascent rather than needing a separate dive. Groupers and turtles are also seen here. The shallow reef on the way in is where the safety stop is spent, either right of the resort on a shore entry or left of it if you came by boat.

The wreck

Vessel
Unidentified — the vessel is not named in any source
Type
Not published: no vessel type or size is recorded
Cause
Not published: no sinking date or cause is recorded for this wreck
Lies
On the bottom at 35 m opposite Aquaventure Reef Club, under a blue buoy line.

Marine life and season

  • Groupers
  • Sea turtles
  • Reef fish swarms
Month-by-month season rating for Aquaventure Ship Wreck
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
PrimePrimePrimePrimeGoodFairFairFairFairFairGoodPrime

Season follows Anilao: Diveable year-round; July–October typhoon season can bring rough surface conditions and trip cancellations.

Know before you go

  • The main hull is at 35 metres, deep enough that no-decompression time runs out quickly; plan the turn before you drop rather than on the wreck.

Questions divers ask

How deep is the Aquaventure ship wreck?+

The wreck sits at 35 metres. Two shallower wrecks, an SUV and an old helicopter, lie between it and the shore and are marked by a white buoy.

What ship is the Aquaventure wreck?+

No published source names the vessel, gives its type or size, or records when and why it sank. Divers go for the fish life inside the hull rather than for the ship's history.

Sources

  1. Aquaventure Ship Wreck - Scubago — Scubago

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