Not EvaluatedCommon Sea Fan
Gorgonia ventalina
Near Virgin Islands (St John)
An iron-hulled steamer of some 94 m built at Millwall in 1865 for the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, carrying sail and one of the first cast bronze propellers. On 29 October 1867 she was taking on coal in Great Harbour, on Peter Island, alongside the RMS Conway, when the San Narciso hurricane arrived. Captain Woolley tried to make open water, but the ship was thrown against Black Rock Point; water reached the red-hot boilers and the explosion broke her in two. The two halves lie some 30 m apart, so more than one dive is needed to see her whole.
Depth
5–30 m
Recommended level
Open Water
Average visibility
25 m
A royal mail ship sunk in a hurricane in 1867; one of the most famous and best-preserved wrecks in the Caribbean, and a location for the film "The Deep".
Wreck of the RMS Rhone National Park, managed by the BVI National Parks Trust
Just over twenty people survived out of the roughly 150 on board, all of them crew members. The Rhone's reputation as "unsinkable" anticipated that of the Titanic by forty-five years. The film "The Deep" (1977) was shot here, and the foremast, the crow's nest, a cannon, the propeller of around 4.5 m and the so-called "lucky porthole" can still be seen. Sources disagree on the exact number of survivors (22 or 23).
Sources consulted: Scuba Diving Magazine; Atlas Obscura; DIVE Magazine; Dive BVI; All At Sea; Yacht Warriors
1 park within 30 km.
What is there to see on land, near this site?
23 km away
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Same country: British Virgin Islands
Same country: British Virgin Islands
Same country: British Virgin Islands
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Water temperature
27 °C
Current
Weak to moderate
Access
Boat
Best season
All year round
Recommended certification
Wreck Diver
Approx. price
70 USD / dive
Same type of dive: Wreck
British Virgin Islands
Cyprus