Espiritu Santo · Vanuatu · Artificial reef · Sand slope
Million Dollar Point
Tanks and jeeps tipped into the sea, still on the sand
Million Dollar Point is where American forces dumped their surplus equipment into the sea at the end of the Second World War rather than ship it home. Tanks, jeeps and aircraft lie scattered over sand from the shallows to a maximum of 40 metres, along with millions of 1940s Coke bottles.
Where it is and how deep
15.5257° S, 167.2458° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
This is a debris field rather than a single wreck. The machinery lies where it went off the ramp the Seabees built into the sea near Luganville Airfield, spread over sand that reaches a maximum of 40 metres. The shallow end is shallow enough to snorkel, so a dive can be kept well inside recreational limits or extended to the deepest part of the field, depending on training and gas.
What is down there amounts to an inventory of a war being thrown away: tanks, jeeps and aircraft, with millions of 1940s Coke bottles worked into the sand between them. Sharks, whales, dolphins and turtles are all listed as sightings here, but the hardware is what divers come for, and the field is dense enough that the dive is mostly a matter of choosing what to look at.
Background
The equipment was surplus the moment the fighting stopped: too much of it, and too costly to ship home. The US offered it to the French administration at heavily discounted rates and the French bought none of it, hoping the Americans would abandon the base and leave everything for free. Instead the US had the Seabees build a ramp into the sea near Luganville Airfield and drove the gear in before pulling out. The stretch of coast has been Million Dollar Point ever since.
Marine life and season
- Whales
- Dolphins
- Sea turtles
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Fair |
Season follows Espiritu Santo: Diveable year-round in the sheltered bay; the Nov-Apr wet season brings cyclone risk that can occasionally halt trips.
Dive videos
Scuba Diving Million Dollar Point, Vanuatu (HD) · MrScubafan on YouTube
Questions divers ask
How deep is Million Dollar Point?+
The debris lies on sand from the shallows down to a maximum of 40 metres, so the dive can be kept shallow or extended to the deep end of the field depending on training and gas.
Why is there so much military equipment on the seabed?+
At the end of the war the French administration bought none of the American surplus, hoping the US would abandon it and leave it for free. The US built a ramp into the sea near Luganville Airfield and dumped the equipment instead.
Sources
- Million Dollar Point — Wikipedia
- Million Dollar Point dive site — PADI
- Espiritu Santo — Wikivoyage
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