Scuba Diving 

Aoredise is close to some of the best scuba diving you will find anywhere in the world! 

Wrecks -

SS President Coolidge - a luxury cruise liner built in the 1930's and used as a troop carrier in WW2 by the US Navy. On it's maiden voyage to Santo when carrying over 2000 troops and tons of equipment, it hit a mine when entering the Segond Channel. The Captain managed to ground the ship close to shore where miraculously all but two people managed to scramble to safety, before the ship rolled, submerged and slid down off the reef to come to rest with the bow 18 metres below the surface and the stern over 50 metres deep. It now make a fantastic dive, known as one of the largest accessible shipwrecks in the world!

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Million Dollar Point - When the war was over, the US Government tried to sell all of their equipment to the Vanuatu government, who refused to pay, thinking that as there was too much to take back to the United States, they would get if for free. However, the US Government decided instead to dump a lot of it in the ocean! The spot this was done is now called Million Dollar Point where you will find tons of scrap metal including tanks, jeeps, fork-lifts, tyres, even a few boats which have been added over the years. All this junk is now home to tropical fish, making for a very interesting dive site.

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USS Tucker - Smaller and not as well known as the Coolidge but still an interesting dive. Located between Santo and Malo Islands, the wreck is in multiple pieces and scattered on a sandy bottom. Damaged in similar circumstances to the Coolidge, by hitting friendly mines, it floated around for a few days before being scuttled by US warplanes  which explains the many pieces. Interestingly it was mainly made from Stainless Steel!

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Other wrecks include the Henry Bonneaud, scuttled near Bokissa island as a dive site, the MV Tui Tawaite in Segond Channel, and a couple of plane wrecks - An F4F Wildcat in Palekula Bay, a Corsair Fighter near Turtle Bay, and a small spy plane just off Aore Island.

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Reefs -

Cindy's Reef - just off Aore Point is a great dive for all levels, with depths from 7m to 30m, lots of coral gardens and plenty of fish including schools of barracuda. On my first dive here I was lucky enough to see seven juvenile manta rays cruising by!

The Submarine Nets - also off Aore Island. Usen in the war to help stop submarines sneaking up Segond Channel, the remains stretch from 15m down to over 40m. Nearby are some huge gorgonian fan corals.

Tutuba Point - on the open southern side of Tutuba Island, has some great diving with interesting gutters  and plenty of fish and coral.

Bokissa Island not only has the Henry Bonneaud wreck, there is also great reef diving on all sides.

You can even find plenty to see just out the front of Aoredise in the Segond Channel including huge Star Corals, and the Crane Wreck - a crane off a WW11 ship.

There are many other great dive sites off Santo which I hope to dive one day.

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