Réunion · France · Wreck · Artificial reef
Antonio Lorenzo
A 1999 scuttling on her port side, holds full of soldierfish
Area photo: Unknown author · CC BY-SA 3.0
The Antonio Lorenzo is a longline fishing boat, cleaned and made safe, that was scuttled off Pointe des Châteaux at Saint-Leu on 16 December 1999 to become an artificial reef. More than fifty metres long, she lies on her port side on sand at 38 m, with holds that are easy to enter and packed with soldierfish.
Where it is and how deep
21.1526° S, 55.2803° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The wreck sits on a sandy bottom with the sand at 38 m, so the dive is planned from the top of the structure down and the bottom time is short. Lying on her port side, the hull reads as a wall of deck and rail rather than a deck you swim over, and it takes a first pass along her fifty-odd metres before the layout makes sense. The directory gives the site as a 20 to 40 m dive.
The holds are the reason to come: the directory calls them easily accessible and they are full of soldierfish. Snappers hold around the hull, a leopard moray uses the structure and a stingray is on the sand alongside. Scorpionfish are met regularly on the wreck and are hard to pick out against it, so watch where you put a hand; frogfish reward a slow look, and pelagics pass, though rarely.
The wreck
- Vessel
- Antonio Lorenzo
- Type
- Longline fishing vessel (palangrier)
- Sunk
- 1999
- Cause
- Cleaned, made safe and deliberately scuttled as an artificial reef
- Lies
- On her port side on a sandy bottom at 38 m
The boat was cleaned of pollutants and made safe, then towed from the port of Pointe des Galets down the coast to Pointe des Châteaux at Saint-Leu and sunk there on 16 December 1999, in 38 m of water on a sandy bottom, with the express purpose of becoming an artificial reef. The site directory describes her as a “pirate” longliner and judges the operation a success on the strength of the life that has since settled on the hull.
Marine life and season
- Frogfish
- Stingrays
- Macro critters
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair |
Season follows Réunion: May–Oct is the dry season with the calmest water and humpbacks Jul–Oct; Jan–Mar is cyclone season.
Know before you go
- The sand is at 38 m and the holds are an overhead: set your gas and no-stop limits before you leave the surface.
- Scorpionfish are met regularly on this wreck and are hard to see against it — keep your hands off the structure.
Questions divers ask
How deep is the Antonio Lorenzo?+
She lies on sand at 38 m with the shallowest structure around 20 m, and the site directory gives the dive as 20 to 40 m. French level 2 is the stated minimum.
Why was the Antonio Lorenzo sunk?+
She was deliberately scuttled on 16 December 1999, after being cleaned and made safe, to create an artificial reef on the sandy bottom off Pointe des Châteaux at Saint-Leu.
Sources
- Antonio Lorenzo — Carte de La Réunion
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