Palau · Palau · Wreck
Chuyo Maru
A freighter so thick with lionfish it took their name
Area photo: 陳德範（Chen, De-Fan） · CC BY 4.0
The Chuyo Maru is a Japanese coastal freighter of 89 m (285 ft) sitting upright in West Malakal Anchorage, close to the dive shops of Koror. So many lionfish live in and on the ship that divers know it as the Lion Fish Wreck.
Also known as Chiyo Maru, Lion Fish Wreck.
Where it is and how deep
7.3403° N, 134.4393° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The top of the forward tower rises to 12 m (35 ft), the deck lies at 30 m (90 ft) and the hull rests upright on the bottom at 40 m (120 ft). Visibility swings between 33 m and 7 m (100 to 20 ft), and it is almost always better on the forward half of the wreck.
The wreck
- Vessel
- Chuyo Maru
- Type
- Coastal freighter
- Length
- 89 m (292 ft)
- Built
- 1943
- Sunk
- 1944
- Cause
- Bombed during Operation Desecrate One on 30–31 March 1944; sank on 1 April
- Lies
- Upright in 40 m in West Malakal Anchorage, deck at 30 m
Built in 1943 and owned by Toyo Kisen Kaisha of Tokyo, the Chuyo Maru was a medium-sized coastal freighter of 1941 tons. Bombs from the Desecrate One raid struck her on 30–31 March 1944, and she went down on 1 April. The wreck was then forgotten until April 1989, when the wreck hunters Francis Toribiong and Klaus Lindemann rediscovered her.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Prime |
Season follows Palau: Boats run every month; November to April has the best conditions, and June to December is typhoon season.
Know before you go
- Penetration is considered dangerous because of the ship's age and the silting inside; only experienced, skilled divers should go in.
Dive videos
Chuyo Maru Wreck Palau 2015 Final · Shark Diver - DiveWet on YouTube
Questions divers ask
What experience does the Chuyo Maru need?+
It is a dive for advanced divers with deep and wreck diving experience: the deck lies at 30 m and the hull sits on the bottom at 40 m.
Sources
- Chuyo Maru — Fish 'n Fins Palau
- Scuba diving in Palau — Wild Hearted
- OpenStreetMap geocoding — OpenStreetMap
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