Exuma Cays · Bahamas · Wreck
Austin Smith Wreck
An intact 27 m patrol cutter at 18 m, with reef sharks circling it
Area photo: Thespis377 · CC BY-SA 2.0
A 27 m Bahamian Defence Force cutter that sank under tow in 1995 and now sits in 18 m of water in the Exuma Cays, bow to the east. The hull is still intact and grown over with corals, sea fans and sponges, and reef sharks patrol around it. Visibility here runs to about 30 m year-round.
Where it is and how deep
24.5577° N, 76.6931° WPublished position for this site.
The dive
The wreck lies on the bottom at 18 m with the bow pointing east, and because the whole dive sits at one depth you can work slowly around the hull rather than plan a profile. The structure is intact, so the shape of the cutter still reads clearly from a few metres off: you can follow the line of the hull from bow to stern, drop down to the sand, and come back along the other side.
Corals, sea fans and sponges have taken over the metalwork, and fire coral is part of that growth, so the rule is to look and not touch. The resident fish hold to the wreck itself — barracuda, angelfish, butterflyfish, parrotfish and grouper around the plating and the openings. Reef sharks are the other draw here, swimming in and around the wreck rather than passing at a distance.
The interior can be explored, but only by divers who are fully qualified for it; everyone else stays outside, which loses very little because the exterior growth and the shark traffic are the point of the site. With around 30 m of visibility year-round you can see most of the vessel from one position, then finish shallow above the wreck before the ascent.
The wreck
- Vessel
- Austin Smith
- Type
- Bahamian Defence Force cutter
- Length
- 27 m (89 ft)
- Sunk
- 1995
- Cause
- Sank accidentally while under tow to be placed as an artificial reef
- Lies
- Intact on the bottom at 18 m, bow facing east
The Austin Smith was a 90 ft (27 m) Bahamian Defence Force cutter, decommissioned in 1995 and named for Austin Smith, a Bahamian marine who died during a Cuban attack. She was to be sunk as an artificial reef and new marine habitat for divers, but she never reached the spot: the vessel sank in 1995 while under tow to San Salvador, and settled in the Exuma Cays where she lies today.
Marine life and season
- Reef sharks
- Barracuda
- Groupers
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Good |
Season follows Exuma Cays: December–April brings the calmest, driest conditions; September–October is peak Atlantic hurricane season.
Know before you go
- Fire coral grows on the wreck structure; contact causes a painful sting, so keep hands and gauges off the metalwork.
- Penetration into the hull is only suitable for fully qualified divers — everyone else should stay outside the structure.
Questions divers ask
How deep is the Austin Smith wreck?+
The cutter lies in 18 m (60 ft) of water, so the whole dive sits at a single, straightforward depth well inside recreational limits.
Can you go inside the Austin Smith?+
The structure is intact and can be penetrated, but only by divers who are fully qualified for it. Everyone else tours the outside, where the coral growth and the reef sharks are.
Sources
- The Austin Smith (Wreck) — Scubago
- Exuma Cays Dive Sites — Dive The World
More dive sites in Exuma Cays
Reef
Up to ten reef sharks over a 15 m patch reef
Blue hole
A vertical shaft with side caverns at its 18 m base
Wall
Canyons and rock passages cut into a wall between 13 m and 30 m
Wall
The Cathedral, a sunlit cavern swim-through at 12 m full of silversides
Wall
A 9 m shelf that slopes to 15 m and then falls into open blue
Drift
A tidal chute that drops you to 12 m then flushes you back to 4 m
Drift
A 30-minute tide-timed drift through an Exuma cut at 7.5 m
Similar dives elsewhere
Three sunk ships and a retired underwater habitat in one bay
The ship that recovered Challenger's black box, sunk as a reef
A small unnamed wreck at 15–22 m, home to morays and coneys
An upright hurricane casualty at 19.8 m with stingrays on the seagrass sand