Reefwander
Collapsed, silt-covered wreck plating and long ribs on the seabed in green water, with a small fish at left — Unawatuna & Jungle Beach

Unawatuna & Jungle Beach · Sri Lanka · Wreck

Galle Ship Wreck

Around 20 iron cannons spread across the seabed

Area photo: tmc1233 · CC BY 2.0

The Galle Ship Wreck is a cannon site between Gibbet and Closenburg Islands, where around 20 large iron cannons lie across the seabed. Once thought to be the remains of an abandoned battery or a shipwreck, it is a dive into the history of Galle Harbour rather than onto an intact hull.

Also known as Galle Cannon Site.

Where it is and how deep

Depth profile of Galle Ship Wreck: typical dive to 18 m (to 60 ft), deepest point 24 m (80 ft) 18 m · Open Water30 m · Advanced40 m · Recreational limit18 m24 m maxtypical dive
Depths on a shared scale to 40 m (130 ft); dashed lines mark common certification limits.

No published position for this site — the map shows Unawatuna & Jungle Beach and its other sites; operators know the mooring.

The dive

The cannons are scattered over a wide area of seabed. Some lie in shallow water while others extend down to 24 m, so the same site offers a shallow look at the guns or a deeper search for the rest of them.

The wreck

Vessel
Unidentified ship
Type
Cannon site
Cause
Not recorded; the guns were once thought to be an abandoned battery
Lies
Around 20 iron cannons scattered between Gibbet and Closenburg Islands, down to 24 m

Marine life and season

The sources we used don't single out particular species here.

Month-by-month season rating for Galle Ship Wreck
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
PrimePrimePrimeGoodFairFairFairFairFairGoodGoodGood

Season follows Unawatuna & Jungle Beach: The south-coast season runs from October to April, and whale sharks occasionally pass from January to March.

Sources

  1. Unawatuna Dive Sites — Pearl Divers
  2. Dive Sites | South Coast | East Coast | Sri Lanka — Divinguru

More dive sites in Unawatuna & Jungle Beach

Pinnacle

A pinnacle with manta rays, scorpionfish, lionfish and morays

9–25 madvanced

Black and red corals, with whale sharks sometimes seen in February

25–30 madvanced

A calm reef below Rumassala Mountain for snorkellers and divers

4–10 mbeginner

A shallow wreck on the Goda Gala reef with open sections

3–5 mbeginner

A resident giant Napoleon wrasse that gives the reef its name

8–15 mbeginner

Groupers in the engine room and morays all through the wreckage

to 22 m · max 24 madvanced

An 1871 steamship sitting upright with a bow like a Viking ship

to 32 madvanced

Similar dives elsewhere

Wreck

British Sergeant

Trincomalee & Kalpitiya · Sri Lanka

A tanker sunk by six bombs the day the Hermes went down

to 24 mintermediate

Wreck

Conch Wreck

Hikkaduwa · Sri Lanka

The huge oil tanks of an 1892 tanker, still lying where she sank

14–20 m · max 21 mintermediate

Wreck

Davy Jones Locker

Goa & the Grande Island · India

Stern of a steel-hulled wreck for experienced divers

12–16 madvanced

Wreck

Double Boiler

Goa & the Grande Island · India

Steamship wreck with boilers, pistons and propeller in place

15–19 mintermediate