Tarifa & the Strait of Gibraltar · Spain · Wreck
Oak-Moore Wreck
An upright steamer at 28 m with rudder and propeller visible
Area photo: Karan Jain from Washington, DC, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0
The Oak-Moore is an early 20th-century steam vessel off Punta Paloma, north-west of Tarifa, thought to have sunk after striking the Bajeta de los Cabezos. It sits upright on sand and gravel at 28 m, bow south to stern north, with the rudder and propeller clearly visible. A nitrox certification is required to dive it, and it gets few visitors, which shows in the life on it.
Where it is and how deep
36.0522° N, 5.7071° WPublished position for this site.
The dive
This is not a routine outing. León Marino runs it only when tide and current suit, rates it expert level, requires a nitrox certification and strongly recommends a deep-diving qualification on top of that. The wreck lies off Punta Paloma, north-west of the island sites that make up the rest of the Tarifa list, on a bottom of sand and gravel at 28 m.
The ship is upright and in a running position, bow to the south and stern to the north, with the rudder and the propeller the two features that read immediately from the sand. The growth and the fish on the structure are unusually heavy — León Marino puts that down to how rarely anyone visits it. Depth and the tide window keep the dive short, and it is worked from outside the hull.
The wreck
- Vessel
- Oak-Moore
- Type
- Early 20th-century steam vessel
- Cause
- Thought to have struck the Bajeta de los Cabezos off Punta Paloma
- Lies
- Upright on sand and gravel at 28 m, bow south to stern north, rudder and propeller visible
León Marino has the Oak-Moore as a steam vessel of the early twentieth century, believed to have gone down in front of Punta Paloma after striking the Bajeta de los Cabezos. Neither the operator nor the catalogue records the ship's original name, its nationality or the date it sank, so the wreck carries only the name used by the divers who work it.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Fair | Fair |
Season follows Tarifa & the Strait of Gibraltar: August to October holds the warmest water; visibility does not track it, and the strait's funnelled Levante and Poniente winds can stop boats in any month.
Know before you go
- Depth and the strait's tide govern this dive: León Marino runs it only when the tide and current suit, and rates it expert level.
Questions divers ask
Do you need nitrox for the Oak-Moore?+
Yes. León Marino requires a nitrox certification for the dive and strongly recommends a deep-diving qualification as well; the wreck lies at 28 m.
Sources
- OAK-MOORE WRECK — Scubago
- Oak-Moore Wreck — León Marino Buceo Tarifa
More dive sites in Tarifa & the Strait of Gibraltar
Reef
A grotto rock at 5–14 m that shelters lobsters and rays
Wall
Sand pools at 8 m under a wall worked from 15 up to 9 m
Wreck
Three boilers still standing in an early-1900s wreck at 8–20 m
Wreck
A steamer on its side under gorgonian growth, at 18–31 m
Wreck
An 1856 steamship broken across the bottom from 22 m to 30 m
Reef
Shore-accessible rock from 0 to 18 m over a Phoenician port
Roman grinding stones and amphorae at the foot of a 40 m point
Anchors from several centuries along a 14–35 m rock run
Similar dives elsewhere
A Navy corvette sunk in 2016, top at 15 m, bottom at 30 m
A Cessna wing at nearly 30 m, colonised as a miniature reef
Wreck
NRP Almeida Carvalho
Algarve · Portugal
A 64 m survey ship, 12 m in the beam, quoted at 30 to 33 m
A Portuguese Navy frigate, 102.7 m, sunk in 30 m off Portimão