Nassau & New Providence · Bahamas · Wreck · Wall
Cessna Wreck
A film-prop Cessna 310 at 18 m beside the Clifton Wall
Area photo: Rüdiger Stehn · CC BY-SA 2.0
A small Cessna 310 crash-landed by a stunt pilot for Jaws: The Revenge, now buoyed and sitting in 18 m of water close to Clifton Wall. The plane itself is an easy shallow wreck for less experienced divers, while the top of the wall lies about 30 m further out to sea at 20 m for those qualified to work it.
Also known as Nari-Nari.
Where it is and how deep
25.0064° N, 77.5521° WApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The plane is marked by a buoy, so the descent is straightforward: you drop the line onto the Cessna 310, which sits in 60 ft (18 m) of water close to Clifton Wall. It is a small airframe and it is a popular site for less experienced divers, shallow enough to spend most of the dive around it and work the wings and cockpit from several angles before moving on.
Divers with the right experience carry on seaward for 30 metres (100 ft) or so to find the top of the wall at 65 ft (20 m), then drop onto the face. Reef sharks cruise past in numbers along the wall, and schooling fish — jacks and snappers — hold in the water off it. The way back is the way you came, to the plane and its buoy, which makes a convenient reference for the ascent.
The wreck
- Vessel
- Cessna 310
- Type
- Light aircraft, film prop
- Cause
- Purposefully crash-landed by a stunt pilot for the film Jaws: The Revenge
- Lies
- In 18 m of water close to Clifton Wall, marked by a buoy
The site, also known as Nari-Nari, is where the Cessna used in Jaws: The Revenge went into the sea. The aircraft was a small Cessna 310, purposefully crash-landed close to shore by a stunt pilot for the filming, and it has stayed where it came to rest. It is now marked by a buoy and sits in 60 ft (18 m) of water close to Clifton Wall, which puts a film prop and a wall dive within one dive plan of each other.
Marine life and season
- Reef sharks
- Trevally & jacks
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Fair | Fair | Good | Prime | Prime |
Season follows Nassau & New Providence: Diving is year-round; Nov–May is calmest and clearest, and Aug–Oct hurricane season brings the most cancelled days.
Know before you go
- Currents on the wall run up and down as well as left and right. Plan the wall extension with gas in reserve: being caught out there low on air or in decompression is the real risk.
Questions divers ask
Do I need to be an advanced diver for the Cessna Wreck?+
Not for the plane itself, which sits in 18 m and is a popular site for less experienced divers. The wall, about 30 m further out with its top at 20 m, is the advanced part: the current there runs up and down as well as sideways, so it needs Advanced training and gas held in reserve.
Sources
- Nassau Diving - New Providence Island, Bahamas — Dive The World
- Clifton Wall (mapped reef) — OpenStreetMap
More dive sites in Nassau & New Providence
Blue hole
A 30 m-wide hole rimmed with coral at 12 m, dropping to 60 m
Artificial reef
A 60-ton, five-metre sculpture standing in five metres of water
Reef
Sea fans and sponge-covered coral heads in 8 m of water
Wreck
A 60 m freighter sunk upright in 2003, bow at 12 m
Reef
Dozens of Caribbean reef sharks at 12 m, on a baited feed
Artificial reef
Connery's escape freighter, 30 m of hull in 12 m of water
Artificial reef
A Thunderball film prop under coral and sponges at 12 m
Similar dives elsewhere
Three swim-throughs, and sometimes 15 to 20 groupers inside
An intact 27 m patrol cutter at 18 m, with reef sharks circling it
An upright hurricane casualty at 19.8 m with stingrays on the seagrass sand
The ship that recovered Challenger's black box, sunk as a reef