Nassau & New Providence · Bahamas · Artificial reef · Reef
Vulcan Bomber
A Thunderball film prop under coral and sponges at 12 m
Area photo: Rüdiger Stehn · CC BY-SA 2.0
The skeletal frame of a bomber built for the 1965 James Bond film Thunderball, left on the sand off the south-western coast of Nassau in 40 ft (12 m) of water. Coral coverage, sponges and plume worms have taken the structure over and it holds a lot of fish life. The film wrecks lie next to each other, so one drop covers more than one of them.
Also known as James Bond Wrecks.
Where it is and how deep
No published position for this site — the map shows Nassau & New Providence and its other sites; operators know the mooring.
The dive
The wrecks lie next to each other in 40 ft (12 m) off the south-west coast, so boats drop divers once and let them work between them. The bomber is not an aircraft wreck in the usual sense. It was a set piece built for filming, and what is left is an open skeleton of frame and spars standing on sand rather than a fuselage you can look into.
Because the structure is open, the dive is about circling it and shooting rather than following a route. Coral coverage, sponges and plume worms have grown over the frame, and the fish life around it is heavier than the bare outline suggests. At 12 m over pale sand the light stays strong all day and gas rather than depth ends the dive, so the freighter Tears of Allah, a short swim across the sand, usually goes on the same tank.
Background
Off the south-western coast of Nassau are the wreck sites used in the filming of several James Bond movies, and the bomber frame is the oldest of them: a set piece from the 1965 film Thunderball rather than a crashed aircraft. Clifton Pier, on this coast, was also one of the locations used in Thunderball, and the Bond productions came back — Never Say Never Again moved to Nassau in mid-November 1982 after two months on the French Riviera, and the freighter from that film, Tears of Allah, lies on the same patch of sand.
Marine life and season
- Reef fish swarms
| 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.
Dive videos
Diving the Vulcan Bomber Set from Thunderball (James Bond) · Deep Dive With Ian on YouTube
Sources
- Nassau/New Providence Dive Sites — Dive The World
- Production of the James Bond films — Wikipedia
More dive sites in Nassau & New Providence
Wreck
A film-prop Cessna 310 at 18 m beside the Clifton Wall
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
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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
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