Eleuthera · Bahamas · Wreck
Cienfuegos
Bow, engine and boiler of an 1895 steamer, with a second wreck beside it
The iron hull of a steam-powered passenger ship out of New York City, wrecked on the Devil's Backbone in 1895. The 90 m (300 ft) hull now lies broken up in 10 m (35 ft), with the bow, engine and boiler still good to dive, and the rudder of a second wreck, the Vanaheim, lies beside it.
Where it is and how deep
No published position for this site — the map shows Eleuthera and its other sites; operators know the mooring.
The dive
Most of the Cienfuegos has broken apart under wave action on the Devil's Backbone, a large, shallow rocky reef along Eleuthera's northern coast, so the dive is a tour of the parts that held together. The bow, the engine and the boiler are the features to find in 10 m (35 ft) of water, spread over what was a 90 m (300 ft) iron hull.
A second wreck shares the spot. The Vanaheim, a 26 m (85 ft) freighter carrying potatoes and onions, struck the Backbone in almost exactly the same place during a storm in 1969, and its rudder lies just 2 m (5 ft) from the Cienfuegos. As on the other Backbone wrecks, spotted trunkfish, snapper, angelfish and parrotfish live on the wrecked superstructures, along with anemones, conch, nudibranchs, shrimps and crabs.
The wreck
- Vessel
- Cienfuegos
- Type
- Steam passenger ship
- Length
- 90 m (295 ft)
- Sunk
- 1895
- Cause
- Wrecked on the Devil's Backbone reef
- Lies
- Broken up in 10 m (35 ft); the bow, engine and boiler remain
The Cienfuegos was a steam-powered passenger ship operating out of New York City when it sank on the Devil's Backbone in 1895. Local Eleuthera villagers rescued all the passengers and crew, and there were no fatalities. More boats have sunk on this reef than on any other in the Bahamas, and the freighter Vanaheim followed in 1969, striking in almost exactly the same spot.
Marine life and season
- Nudibranchs
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good | Good | Good | Good | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Good |
Season follows Eleuthera: Diveable all year. Rain falls May to October in storms of a day or two, and sharks are seen most in the cooler winter months.
Questions divers ask
How deep is the Cienfuegos wreck?+
The 90 m (300 ft) iron hull lies in 10 m (35 ft) of water on the Devil's Backbone, comfortably within recreational limits.
Sources
- Diving in Eleuthera: wrecks, reefs, walls and drifts — Dive The World
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