Réunion · France · Wreck · Artificial reef
Haï Siang
Depth figures for this scuttled lobster boat disagree by 34 metres
Area photo: Cynomana · CC BY-SA 4.0
A 50-metre Taiwanese langoustier that Manawa's guide places on the seabed off Cape des Aigrettes at 54 metres, scuttled in the 1980s; DUNE's wreck page for the same ship gives about twenty metres and no date. Take the deeper figure and the ship sits well past recreational limits, with strong currents over it. Stingrays and schools of predatory fish work the structure.
Also known as Hai Siang, Épave du Haï Siang.
Where it is and how deep
21.0364° S, 55.2170° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
How this dive runs depends on which depth you believe, and the honest answer is to plan for the deeper one. Manawa's guide puts the hull at 54 metres off Cape des Aigrettes and calls the site strictly for divers with significant experience, citing the depth and the strong currents together; DUNE's page for the same ship describes it resting at about twenty metres. Rig and brief for 54 metres, descend straight down a line to the ship, and have the ascent worked out before anyone gets in the water.
What you get for the effort is 50 metres of ship that has been on the seabed since the 1980s and has grown into an artificial reef. Stingrays are a fixture around it and large schools of predatory fish hold over the wreck. Currents can run hard here, so the descent line is the reference for the whole dive, and staying with it is what keeps the ascent, and the group, together.
The wreck
- Vessel
- Haï Siang
- Type
- Taiwanese langoustier (lobster boat)
- Length
- 50 m (164 ft)
- Cause
- Scuttled deliberately off Cape des Aigrettes in the 1980s
- Lies
- On the seabed off Cape des Aigrettes at 54 m by one source, about 20 m by another
The Hai Siang was a Taiwanese langoustier, a lobster boat, that ended up on the seabed off Saint-Gilles-les-Bains. Manawa's guide says it was sunk deliberately off Cape des Aigrettes in the 1980s; DUNE's wreck page, covering the same ship, says only that it sank on an undetermined date. Both describe what is left the same way: an artificial reef that the sea has taken over.
Marine life and season
- Stingrays
| 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
- Planned on the 54-metre figure the wreck sits past recreational depth limits, so the dive runs as a decompression profile with gas and ascent worked out in advance.
- Manawa reports strong currents over the site, which is what makes the descent line non-negotiable: lose it deep and there is no shallow reef to fall back on.
Dive videos
Haï Siang - épave 55m (Île de la Réunion) · Ô Sea Bleu Plongée on YouTube
Haï Siang · Jean Claude Martigné on YouTube
Questions divers ask
How deep is the Hai Siang wreck?+
Sources disagree. Manawa's guide puts it at 54 metres off Cape des Aigrettes and rates the site for experienced divers only, citing the depth and the strong currents; DUNE's wreck page describes the same ship at about twenty metres. Plan for 54 metres until a survey settles it.
Sources
More dive sites in Réunion
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