Belize Barrier Reef · Belize · Wreck · Artificial reef
The Witconcrete
114 metres of ship lying at 18 metres off Blackbird Caye
Area photo: Axelspace Corporation · CC BY-SA 4.0
The Witconcrete is a 114-metre ship sunk in December 2021 in the Soldier Caye Conservation Zone off Blackbird Caye, on the east side of Turneffe Atoll. She rests at mostly 18 metres, and her 16 chambers were widened with easy access points cut before she went down, making a very large wreck at a shallow depth.
Also known as Witconcrete II.
Where it is and how deep
17.3680° N, 87.7980° WApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The scale is what registers first: 375 feet, or 114 metres, of hull lying in about 18 metres of water. The whole ship sits inside recreational depth, which is unusual for a vessel this size, and there is more of her than one tank covers, so the sensible approach is to take a section at a time rather than try to swim her end to end in a single dive.
She was a sugar transportation ship, working the east coast of the United States and most recently Belize, and she was prepared before sinking: the 16 chambers inside the hull were widened and given easy access points to make the vessel more diver-friendly. TASA put her down on 10 December 2021 in the Soldier Caye Conservation Zone, close to Blackbird Caye Resort, and she counts among the largest ships deployed as a wreck in the Caribbean.
The wreck
- Vessel
- Witconcrete
- Type
- Sugar transportation ship
- Length
- 114 m (374 ft)
- Sunk
- 2021
- Cause
- Deliberately sunk by TASA on 10 December 2021 in the Soldier Caye Conservation Zone
- Lies
- Mostly at 18 m, close to Blackbird Caye Resort on the east side of Turneffe Atoll
The Witconcrete was built between 1942 and 1944 as a sugar transportation ship, operating along the east coast of the United States and most recently in Belize. On 10 December 2021 TASA sank the 114-metre vessel (375 feet) in the Soldier Caye Conservation Zone, close to Blackbird Caye Resort, after widening her 16 chambers and cutting easy access points into them to make the hull more diver-friendly. She is one of the largest ships deployed as a wreck in the Caribbean.
Marine life and season
The sources we used don't single out particular species here.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Prime | Prime | Prime | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair |
Season follows Belize Barrier Reef: March to May is the dry season, when visibility at Turneffe can pass 30 m (100 ft); rain and northerly winds take the shine off the other months.
Know before you go
- The chambers were widened for divers but they are still an enclosed overhead with no direct route to the surface, so treat them as a penetration dive rather than a swim-through.
Questions divers ask
How deep is the Witconcrete wreck?+
The ship rests at a depth of mostly 18 metres, well inside recreational limits, which is shallow for a vessel of 114 metres. The interior chambers were widened before sinking, but they remain an overhead environment.
Sources
- Turneffe Atoll dive sites — Dive The World
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