Marseille & the Calanques · France · Wreck
Saint Dominique
A 70 m sailing ship on the bottom since 1897
Area photo: Karim saari · CC BY 4.0
A 70-metre steel-hulled sailing ship sunk in 1897 and lying at 33 metres off the Vieux-Port towards l'Estaque. The masts are gone but the hull is imposing, with an open deck at 25 to 27 metres and rungs still in place on the structure.
Also known as Épave Saint Dominique.
Where it is and how deep
43.2732° N, 5.3240° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
Descent puts you on the open deck at 25 to 27 metres, which is where most of the dive is spent. The ship is 70 metres long, so a single bottom time at this depth covers part of the deck rather than the whole of it, and the rungs still fixed to the structure give you something to follow from one section to the next as you work along it.
Below the deck the hull carries on to 33 metres, and dropping off the side for a look at the plating is the deepest part of the profile. With the masts gone there is no rigging overhead, so the wreck stays open and the ascent is straightforward: come back up onto the deck, follow it to your ascent line and finish the stop in the water above the ship.
The wreck
- Vessel
- Saint Dominique
- Type
- Steel-hulled sailing ship
- Length
- 70 m (230 ft)
- Sunk
- 1897
- Cause
- Not published; only the year the ship was lost is recorded.
- Lies
- Off the Vieux-Port towards l'Estaque, masts gone, open deck at 25-27 m and the hull down to 33 m.
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 | Fair | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair | Fair |
Season follows Marseille & the Calanques: Jun–Sep is the main season; the mistral funnels down the Rhône valley and closes the offshore islands in any month.
Questions divers ask
How deep is the Saint Dominique wreck?+
The wreck lies at 33 metres off the Vieux-Port towards l'Estaque, with its open deck at 25 to 27 metres. That puts the whole dive in deep territory and it needs a deep or advanced qualification rather than an entry-level card.
Sources
- Épave Saint Dominique — Scubago
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