Sesimbra & the Arrábida · Portugal · Wreck
River Gurara — bow
The deeper half of the River Gurara, at 28 m
Area photo: YukioSanjo · CC BY-SA 4.0
The bow half of the River Gurara, a 175 m Nigerian cargo motor vessel that broke in two in a storm off Cabo Espichel in February 1989. This section lies on the bottom at an average of 28 m, the deeper of the wreck's two halves. Large congers hold inside the structure, with pouting, seabream, wrasse, moray, squid and octopus over the plating.
Also known as River Gurara Proa, River Gurara Proa (Wreck).
Where it is and how deep
38.4113° N, 9.2177° WPublished position for this site.
The dive
The run out from the Porto de Abrigo goes west toward Cabo Espichel, where the River Gurara went down on 26 February 1989. The ship broke in the middle, and this dive is the bow half of it, the section that stayed nearer the coast. The wreck sits at an average depth of 28 m, so the whole profile is planned around that number from the moment you leave the boat.
Work the structure rather than the sand. Large congers hold in the openings in the plating, and pouting, seabream and wrasse move over the section with morays, squid and octopus tucked into the smaller gaps. Visibility on this coast swings widely from month to month and site to site, so how much of the wreck reads as one shape on any given day is the variable, not the depth.
The two halves of the ship are dived separately. The stern lies at an average of 23 m, and Paredes do Cabo, the wall beside the cape at 12–15 m, carries scattered traces of the same wreck — enough that a second dive on the shallower ground still keeps you on the River Gurara. Ascents come off the wreck itself, and at 28 m in Atlantic water the ascent is the part of the plan that matters.
The wreck
- Vessel
- River Gurara
- Type
- Nigerian cargo motor vessel
- Length
- 175 m (574 ft)
- Sunk
- 1989
- Cause
- Sank in a strong storm off Cabo Espichel on 26 February 1989
- Lies
- Broken in two; the bow section on the bottom at an average of 28 m
The River Gurara was a Nigerian cargo motor vessel, 175 m long, that sank off Cabo Espichel in a storm on 26 February 1989 and broke in the middle. Wikipedia's account of the town puts the loss at 45 sailors and names the wreck as the most famous dive site on this coast. Sesimbra's own tourism office, writing about the town's diving, calls the wrecking — tragic as it was — an important milestone in the development of the activity here.
Marine life and season
- Octopus & cuttlefish
- Squid
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair |
Season follows Sesimbra & the Arrábida: Aug–Oct is the warmest window; sheltered bay sites are diveable all year, but cape-facing sites take Atlantic swell in any month.
Questions divers ask
How deep is the River Gurara bow section?+
The bow half sits on the bottom at an average of 28 m, the deeper of the wreck's two sections. The stern lies at an average of 23 m and is dived as a separate site.
What certification do I need for the River Gurara?+
Advanced Open Water or equivalent. At an average of 28 m the bow sits well below the Open Water depth limit, and bottom time at that depth is short enough that the dive has to be planned rather than improvised.
What happened to the River Gurara?+
She was a Nigerian cargo motor vessel that sank off Cabo Espichel in a storm on 26 February 1989, breaking in the middle. Wikipedia's account of Sesimbra puts the loss at 45 sailors.
Sources
- River Gurara Proa (Wreck) — Scubago — Scubago / SSI MyDiveGuide
- Sesimbra — Wikipedia — Wikipedia
- Mergulho — Visit Sesimbra — Câmara Municipal de Sesimbra
- List of shipwrecks of Europe — Wikipedia — Wikipedia
More dive sites in Sesimbra & the Arrábida
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Wall
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Gorgonian carpet at 28–30 m where sunfish come to be cleaned
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