Despite a name that means sunken ship, Barco Hundido is a rock formation and not a wreck: PADI's entry for Caño Island notes there is no boat here. The rock runs from 12 to 22 m and draws big schools of fish — grunts in numbers, large groupers on the structure, scorpionfish tucked into it — with manta rays and sea turtles passing through.
Also known as El Barco Hundido.
Where it is and how deep
No published position for this site — the map shows Isla del Caño and its other sites; operators know the mooring.
The dive
The dive is a tour of one rock formation between 12 and 22 m, so groups usually drop at the deep end and work up the structure as gas allows. Large groupers hold on the rock and scorpionfish sit motionless on it, which rewards diving it slowly and looking into the formation rather than swimming over the top of it.
Out from the rock, the schools do the work: grunts pack in over the structure in big aggregations, and manta rays and sea turtles pass through often enough to be worth watching the blue for. The shallow end at 12 m makes a natural place to finish, with the last of the dive spent over the top of the formation before the safety stop.
Marine life and season
- Groupers
- Reef fish swarms
- Manta rays
- Sea turtles
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Fair | Good | Good | Good | Fair | Fair | Good |
Season follows Isla del Caño: Dec–Apr is the dry season with the clearest water; Sep–Nov rain cuts visibility but overlaps the southern humpback migration.
Dive videos
Cano Island 20180324 El Barco Hundido Dive 3 · Robert Cox on YouTube
Questions divers ask
Is there a shipwreck at Barco Hundido?+
No. The name means sunken ship, but PADI's entry for Caño Island states there is no boat: the site is a rock formation running from 12 to 22 m.
Sources
- Dive Sites at Caño Island — Dive The World
- Isla del Caño dive site — PADI
- Drake Bay — Wikivoyage
More dive sites in Isla del Caño
Pinnacle
Oceanic mantas and hammerheads over rock rising from 45 m
Coral garden
Hard-coral shelf in 5 to 12 m with whitetip sharks crossing it
A cave with about ten resident whitetip reef sharks
Pelagic & blue water
Current-fed schools of jacks, snapper and barracuda in 22 m
Similar dives elsewhere
Open-sea rock heads with hammerheads, whitetips and barracuda
Two pinnacles on a 16-metre plateau, with a wall dropping to 60 metres
Hold position at 18–24 m while hammerhead schools pass the plateau
Underwater mountain five minutes out of Blanes port