Wreck Diving

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Scuba diving is about a lot more than looking at fish. Wreck diving is a specialized type of scuba diving that involves diving on shipwrecks and (sometimes) looking for sunken treasure. We do have shipwrecks in the ocean here, but unfortunately they are too deep for recreational divers to go and see. This is a shame as diving on shipwrecks is really interesting and wrecks, like reefs attract many fish, who make it there “home”. Coral grows on them quickly, making them a colourful sight.

In the 1940’s, a ship sank next to Los Arcos. The ship, rumour had it, was a bit special. It has doors of gold! The ship sunk in 500 feet of water, and it was impossible that someone (with the equipment they had at that time) could go that deep.
As with all mysterious treasure, there was a guardian: a gigantic grouper fish with eyes as large as a plate. The best divers tried to dive down to remove the valuable doors, but they failed to return with the booty. Some returned frightened, alleging that the fish was the size of a small boat while others simply did not return.
It is possible then, that the ship with its golden doors, is still there. And of course, the grouper?
There must be many undiscovered shipwrecks out there containing treasures, and who is to say, you can´t find it?
When you hear divers talking about shipwrecks, the term penetration pops up a lot! This has nothing to do with the 60ft club, scuba diving’s equivalent of the mile high club. (I know of no one who has done this though, just another fun myth,). Penetration, however, is the term used to describe entering a shipwreck. This requires special training as it can be dangerous. Lines are used to map the route in, and hopefully, out. As silt collects inside wrecks, it only takes a misplaced fin kick to cloud the water, concealing the exit route. Without specialised training, overhead environments should not be entered, ever, but with the training, they are a lot of fun. Swimming around a ship’s deck, going up ladders, checking out cannons and seeing who is hiding in there, is amazing.
I have dived on many wrecks, but one of my favourite sites was in the Red Sea in Egypt. When the Israel´s pulled out of Egypt, they did not want to take all of their equipment with them, so they dumped it off a cliff into the ocean, along with many empty oil drums. This site is spectacular now. The empty oil drums contain many surprises, from eels to nudibranches (the pretty slugs), amongst many other surprises. You can also sit in the jeeps, perch on the tank guns and check the periscopes out. It is a playground with history attached.
Back to Vallarta though, there are some lovely little wrecks along the coastline that have a lot of life living in and around them, and are fun to explore. You can never stop trying to guess how it came to be sitting on the bottom of the ocean, and wishing they were full of gold.