Oʻahu · United States · Wreck
Nashua Navy Tug
Navy tug alone on sand at 20 m, sharks inside
Area photo: mattk1979 · CC BY-SA 2.0
An old Navy tugboat put down as an artificial reef in 2012 and sitting alone on the sand at about 20 m. She is the only structure on that patch of seabed, reef sharks live inside her, and the Navy still uses the wreck as an active training site.
Also known as Nashua Tug.
Where it is and how deep
21.2949° N, 157.9931° WPublished position for this site.
The dive
The tug sits alone in the sand at around 20 m with nothing else nearby, so the dive is the wreck and the ground immediately around it. That isolation is the point: everything living here has come to the only structure available, which is why a single small hull carries as much as it does after being sunk in 2012.
Reef sharks live inside the wreck and are the sighting divers plan for, with enormous pufferfish, octopuses and moray eels around the structure and a long list of Hawaiian reef fish over it. The tug has also become an active US Navy training site, so it is worth checking with the operator what else is scheduled on the wreck that day.
The wreck
- Vessel
- Nashua
- Type
- Navy tugboat
- Sunk
- 2012
- Cause
- Purposely sunk in 2012 as an artificial reef
- Lies
- Alone in the sand at about 20 m
Marine life and season
- Reef sharks
- Octopus & cuttlefish
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good | Good | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good |
Season follows Oʻahu: South-shore boat diving runs all year; the North Shore reefs at Pupukea are only calm from about May to October and are dangerous in winter.
Know before you go
- The tug is an active US Navy training site, so naval activity in the area is a real possibility and worth confirming with the boat before diving.
Sources
- Nashua Navy Tug (Wreck) — Scubago — Scubago / SSI MyDiveGuide
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