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A large grey pufferfish covered in dark spots rests on a rounded coral head, with small fish in the blue-green water behind — Maumere Bay

Maumere Bay · Indonesia · Wreck

Wairterang Wreck

A coral-covered wartime freighter reached from the beach

Area photo: Rachel Crane · CC BY 4.0

The Wairterang Wreck is a Second World War vessel, usually described as a Japanese freighter, lying on sand just off Wairterang beach on the north coast of Flores. It sits close enough to shore to be dived from the beach, and the hull is now largely covered with coral and home to a great diversity of underwater life.

Where it is and how deep

Depth profile of Wairterang Wreck: typical dive 12–33 m (40–108 ft) 18 m · Open Water30 m · Advanced40 m · Recreational limit12 m33 mtypical dive
Depths on a shared scale to 40 m (130 ft); dashed lines mark common certification limits.

8.6085° S, 122.4743° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.

The dive

After a short swim over sand from the beach, the hull appears on the bottom about 70 m out. Roughly 50 m long and spanning 12 m to 33 m, it lies flat and largely open, with the mid-section collapsed and the deeper end twisted onto its side; portholes, a ladder, hatches and a set of rails running down the middle are all still legible.

Groupers and trevally patrol the wreck, lionfish and scorpionfish sit on it, and ghost pipefish and unusual shrimp live in the hydroids. There is no penetration and nothing technical about it. The dive ends on the sea grass beside the hull, looking for seahorses and small critters.

The wreck

Vessel
Unidentified, usually described as a Japanese freighter
Type
Freighter, Second World War
Length
50 m (164 ft)
Sunk
1943
Cause
Allied bomb, while anchored loading charcoal and timber
Lies
On a sand bottom about 70 m off Wairterang beach, between 12 and 33 m

The wreck is a Second World War vessel, usually described as a Japanese freighter, that was anchored loading charcoal and timber when an Allied bomb sank it in 1943. Its identity has never been settled: a German specialist who examined it thought the rails along its middle suggested a vessel used as a floating bridge for moving tanks between ships.

Marine life and season

  • Groupers
  • Trevally & jacks
  • Macro critters
Month-by-month season rating for Wairterang Wreck
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
FairFairFairPrimePrimePrimePrimePrimePrimePrimeGoodGood

Season follows Maumere Bay: April to October is the calmest and clearest window; January to March brings rougher crossings, though the sheltered inner bay still dives.

Dive videos

Waiterang Wreck: A Day and Night Scuba Diving Expedition · Charly Dupagny — Travel & Dance Archives on YouTube

Sources

  1. Maumere diving guide — Neptune Liveaboards
  2. Wairterang Wreck — ScubaGo
  3. Diving - Santai Divers Maumere — Santai Divers

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