Costa Brava · Spain · Wreck
El Boreas
A confiscated navy tug from 18 m to a 32 m seabed
Area photo: Mikipons · CC BY-SA 3.0
A former German navy tug and icebreaker lying off Palamós, and the one wreck dived on this stretch of coast. After its service life it was used for drug trafficking and confiscated. The wreck starts at 18 m and the seabed is at 32 m, with no current listed and visibility between 10 and 30 m; it is rated CMAS two-star or Advanced Open Water.
Also known as Boreas wreck.
Where it is and how deep
41.8271° N, 3.1284° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
The wreck lies off Palamós within a short run — under 30 minutes — and close enough to the Llosa de Palamós mooring that the description of that site gives five minutes of swimming to reach it. The top of the wreck is at 18 m, which is where the dive begins, and the sand around it is at 32 m. That spread is the whole plan: drop onto the structure, work the shallower end first and take the seabed last if gas and limit allow.
Conditions are listed as no current and good visibility, between 10 and 30 m, so the wreck is usually seen whole rather than found by touch. Boat traffic is the danger named for it, as it is at El Pinell and Ullastre I, so the ascent belongs on a line or under a marker rather than in open water. The rating comes from the depth; no interior route is published for the wreck, so plan it as a dive on the outside.
The wreck
- Vessel
- Boreas
- Type
- Tug and icebreaker
- Sunk
- 1989
- Cause
- Scuttled with official authorisation after the confiscated ship had been taking up space in Palamós harbour; the sinking was authorised on 25 January 1989.
- Lies
- From 18 m at the top of the wreck down to a seabed at 32 m off Palamós.
The Boreas was a tug and icebreaker in the German navy during the Second World War. After that service it was used for drug trafficking and was confiscated, and the vessel then sat taking up space in Palamós harbour until the authorities authorised its sinking on 25 January 1989. Divers now come to Palamós for the wreck it left.
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 | Fair | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Fair | Fair |
Season follows Costa Brava: Surface water sits near 13 °C from January to March and peaks around 25 °C in August; local guidance is 5 mm in July and August, 7 mm April to June and September to October, drysuit the rest.
Know before you go
- Boat traffic is a listed danger over this wreck, so ascend on the shotline or send up a marker before you leave the bottom.
Sources
- El Boreas wreck — Wannadive — Wannadive.net
- Palamós — Wikipedia (Spanish)
- Llosa de Palamós — Scubago
- Palamos town to Cap de Begur — area index — Wannadive.net
- Diving in Palamós — Submarinisme Costa Brava
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