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Wreck Dives of Aruba: Arashi Plane wreck

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We were determined to find a sunken plane in Aruba.  The Renaissance airplane search was a complete bust, so we decided to find the Arashi airplane wreck near the NW point of the island.

The world wide web provided limited information on the Arashi plane wreck.  The internet “said” that there used to be two airplanes at this dive site.  A small Lockheed LoneStar and a twin engine Beechcraft.  Evidently the LoneStar has disintegrated and is no longer visible, but the Beechcraft is supposed to be sitting in 10 meters of water.  The web also stated that the “basic Beechcraft airplane” is supposed to be in tact, but its propellers had fallen off.  And you know the that “everything on the web is the truth.”

Loaded with excitement we headed to the dive site.  At this point we were going to burn the rest of air no matter what, airplane siteing or not.  Surely there is something to see.

I jumped in with my mask and to my utter surprise I saw an airplane propeller so I declared, “this is it, we found the Arashi plane!”  We quickly suited up and headed toward the two propellers that were strewn across the ocean floor.  They were fairly close to each other, covered in sea life with a few fish swimming around.

Dive site

Airplane Propeller

Arashi Dive Site

Another airplane propeller

Arashi dive site

Airplane wheel and tire

A little further away was a third propeller still attached to the engine.  Not sure whose prop this was as a twin engine Beechcraft would only have two, not three.  Perhaps it belonged to the other airplane that disintegrated, but then why would the propeller still be here?  Strange.

We swam around the area in search of the rest of the plane wreck and to our disappointment there was nothing else there except the 3 propellers.  Shooooot!  How do you count 3 propellers as a plane wreck dive?  Maybe it should be called the Arashi propeller dive?

Something else to see?

We took some fun photos of the sea life, which was not abundant, but pretty none the less.

Arashi dive site

This reminded me of Charlie Brown

Arashi dive site

Sorry about the coloring, but this was pretty in real life

Arashi dive site

A few fish hanging out by the propeller

Arashi dive site

Same two played to the camera.

Arashi dive site

This beautiful bubbly purple stuff grew all over the coral in Aruba. We did not see it in Bonaire.

Starting this dive with less than a half of tank of air (Matt had 1800 and I had 1500), we knew it needed to be short.  After 35 minutes, at 800 PSI, we decided to head back to the dinghy.  On the ascention, I was looking around and what did I see – an 8′ green moray eel swimming around!

During the day, moray eels are utually hidden in a rock with just their head sticking out giving menacing looks. I had never seen one swimming around and certainly not one this big.   Matt went after him to get some photos and he quickly hid under a rock.  We hung out for awhile and decided to go up.  As Matt was stowing his gear in the dinghy I took one last look below and saw him swimming away on the hunt for some lunch.

Aruba wreck dive

Aruba Wreck Dive: SS Antilla

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Aruba has several wreck dives that were intentionally sunk and others that suffered an attack.  We had snorkeled the SS Antilla Wreck and enjoyed the snorkel so much that we decided to come back with our dive gear.

The SS Antilla was 397 feet long, had a 55.4 foot beam, weighed 4,400 gross tons. She was built in 1939 by Finkenwarder at Hamburg and was powered by two steam turbines.

Aruba Wreck Dive

SS. Antilla before she sank

Although she was a brand new German vessel, the ship was sunk intentionally by her captain. She was an unarmed ship used by the Germans to supply their submarines during WW II.  She was nick-named the “Ghost Ship” by the allies who were never able to locate and attack the ship outside of neutral waters.

When Germany invaded Holland in May of 1940, the ship was moored
just off the shore of Aruba which is a Dutch territory. The local law enforcement immediately asked for her surrender but gave her captain a day to think about it. That night the Antilla was scuttled in order to prevent the ship’s capture. Her captain and crew were detained for the rest of the war in a prisoner war camp on the island of Bonaire.

The Ship now rests in 18-22 meters of water off the south side of Aruba.
She is one of the largest wrecks in the Caribbean and rests intact on a
sand bottom making this one of the best wreck dives in the area.

Disclaimer:  Sorry for the funny color on the photos, we forgot the red filter and I could not photo shop it well.  But here you go…
Aruba wreck dive

SS Antilla Wreck in Aruba

Aruba wreck dive

SS Antilla Starboard Side

Timing is everything when you give this site as you don’t want to be there with all of the tourists from the charter boats.   There are a few windows during the day where the site is empty, but by the time we jumped in another dive boat and a small charter boat arrived.  Once in the water, you quickly come to the stern of the boat which is only in about 12 meters of water.

The majority of the ship is covered in marine life including giant tube sponges, and coral formations.

Aruba wreck dive

Beautiful coral on the SS Antilla

Aruba wreck dive

Tube coral on SS Antilla

We came across a couple of giant puffer fish and enjoyed following them around their home town.

Aruba wreck dive

Puffer making its home around the SS Antill

Aruba wreck dive

Another puffer hiding in the wreckage

Matt had camera duty so he captured me swimming around:

Aruba wreck dive

Me enjoying being back in the water.

Aruba wreck dive

Enjoying the bottom of the wreck

Aruba wreck dive

SS. Antilla wreck

 

Wreck Dive: Hilma Hooker

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Wreck diving. Typically I am not a fan of wreck dives as they make me really sad to think of the overall loss of life, cargo, and ship. But then I learned the history of the Hilma Hooker wreck and I decided to make an exception.

Hilma Hooker image courtesy: Bonaire Pro Dive Guide

How the Hilma Hooker sunk according to Wikipedia: In the summer of 1984, the Hilma Hooker had engine problems at sea and was towed to the port of Kralendijk, Bonaire. It was already under surveillance by drug enforcement agencies. Docked at the Town Pier, local authorities boarded the ship for an inspection when her captain was unable to produce any of the requisite registration papers. A false bulkhead was discovered, and held within was 25,000 lb (11,000 kg) of marijuana.  The Hilma Hooker and her crew were subsequently detained while the local authorities on Bonaire searched for the vessel’s owners, who were never found.

The ship languished under detention as evidence for many months and through general neglect of her hull she began to take on considerable amounts of water. It was feared that she would sink at the main dock on the island and disrupt maritime traffic. After many months of being tied to the pier and pumped of water, on September 7, 1984 the Hooker was towed to an anchorage. As the days passed, a slight list became noticeable. The list was even more obvious one morning.

Image courtesy of Bonaire Pros.

The owner was still not coming forward to claim the ship and maintain it so the many leaks added up until on the morning of September 12, 1984 the Hilma Hooker began taking in water through her lower portholes. At 9:08 am she rolled over on her starboard side and, in the next two minutes, disappeared.

Hilma Hooker image courtesy of DailyScubaDiver

The Hilma Hooker came to rest on a sand flat between two coral systems in an area known to divers as Angel City. The wreck has subsequently become a prime attraction for scuba divers. It lies in approximately 100 feet (30 m) of water and at 240 feet in length provides ample scope for exploration.

However, rumor on the island was that the local government did not want to sink the boat, but locals did.  The locals believed this would make an excellent dive site.  So, at the dark of night, several locals brought the listing boat in between two reefs and “assisted with the sinking process” with the hope that she would sink straight down on her bottom.  Unfortunately, she was listing so bad that she sunk sideways and landed on her side hitting part of the first reef.

Hilma Hooker is 72 meters (236′) long and 11 meters (36′) wide.  Her stern is about 21 meters (69′) below the surface, the bow is 26 meters (85′) below and the mast is 30 meters (100′) below.  Her original name which can still be seen on her transom is “Williams Express” from Panama.  There are two large open holds, but you are required to be certified wreck diver to swim in and around the interior of the wreck.

Diagram courtesy of ArtToMedia.com

Being so far down, 29 meters (95′), I was content hanging out around the exterior of the wreck.  Remarkably, I found some of the most interesting aspects to be on her bottom (where coral and sea life hung precariously to the bottom of the ship (upside down).  It is also where we saw a giant green moray eel and several trunk fish.  Many sponges and hard coral grow on the bridge and lots of little sea cities can be found all around the ship.

Hilma Hooker image courtesy Zeal.net

Since this was such a deep dive we did not bring the GoPro to take photos, so the images provided were taken by other photographers, credit give on each photo.