Watamu & Malindi · Kenya · Wreck
Mida Wreck
Glassfish and sweepers over a sponge-crusted trawler
Area photo: phil from uk · CC BY 2.0
Mida Wreck is the wreck dive in the Watamu line-up: an 18-metre prawn trawler (60 feet) lying on the sandy bottom near the mouth of Mida Creek, in 14 m of water. The hull is completely encrusted with a mantle of sponges and corals rather than left as bare steel, and that growth is what holds the groupers, batfish and glassfish recorded on it.
Where it is and how deep
No published position for this site — the map shows Watamu & Malindi and its other sites; operators know the mooring.
The dive
This is a single-structure dive rather than a reef circuit. The trawler sits on the sandy bottom off the mouth of Mida Creek in 14 m of water, so there is bottom time to work the whole thing slowly. She is only 18 m (60 ft) long and a lap of the outside is short; the dive is really about the detail, because the hull is completely encrusted with a mantle of sponges and corals rather than left as bare plating.
The species list on the wreck is short and consistent: groupers, batfish, juvenile barracuda, sweepers and glassfish, described as swirling about the decks in an endless parade. The encrusting growth is the reason - sponge and coral cover over the whole hull gives the small schooling fish somewhere to sit and the larger fish something to hunt around. A torch is worth carrying even in the middle of the day, since colour on the plating only comes back under light.
The wreck
- Vessel
- Unnamed prawn trawler
- Type
- Fishing trawler
- Length
- 18 m (59 ft)
- Cause
- Not published - no sinking date or cause is recorded in the sources that list the site
- Lies
- On the sandy bottom near the mouth of Mida Creek, the hull completely encrusted with sponges and corals
Marine life and season
- Groupers
- Barracuda
- Reef fish swarms
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Prime | Good | Off-season | Off-season | Off-season | Fair | Good | Good | Good | Prime | Prime |
Season follows Watamu & Malindi: Oct–Mar is the season, with whale sharks Nov–Feb; the kusi monsoon and long rains shut most centres from April to June.
Know before you go
- No current figure is published for the wreck itself, and it lies off the mouth of a tidal creek - ask the centre to time the dive against the tide rather than assume the area's usual mild conditions.
Questions divers ask
How deep is the Mida Wreck?+
One published depth figure exists for it: 14 m. A dive-holiday operator describes it as an 18-metre wreck of a prawn trawler, but that page publishes no dive depths at all and 18 m is the length of the 60-foot hull. Plan it as a shallow dive in about 14 m and confirm the number with the centre.
What is the Mida Wreck?+
An 18-metre prawn trawler (60 feet) lying on the sandy bottom near the mouth of Mida Creek. No vessel name, sinking date or cause has been published for it in the sources that list the site.
What can you see on the Mida Wreck?+
The hull is completely encrusted with sponges and corals, and the fish recorded on it are groupers, batfish, juvenile barracuda, sweepers and glassfish.
Sources
- Diving Watamu: Vuma Caves & Mida Wreck — Just Gotta Dive
- Watamu National Marine Park — Dive Worldwide
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