peter bassill · operator
$ cat diving/sites/man-o-war-shoals

Man O'War Shoals.

A submerged pinnacle close to Diamond Rock, treated by the Marine Park as an extension of the Torrens Point headland. A broad base rises from sand at about 21-24 m and splits into two connected peaks that reach within about 5 m of the surface. A swim-through runs between the peaks.

Where · Saba Marine Park, off Torrens Point / Well's Bay, north-west coast Type · pinnacle Depth · 5–24 m Logged · 81 dives, 6 Oct 2003 – 28 Sep 2004
$ man man-o-war-shoals
01 / The dive

What's down there.

POINTS OF INTEREST
  • Twin interconnected peaks
  • Swim-through between the peaks
  • Two smaller outcrops rising from the seabed
  • Cave with black coral at its entrance
  • Long bottom time thanks to the shallow top
MARINE LIFE
  • Schooling black durgons
  • Barracuda
  • Snapper and grunts under ledges
  • Chromis
  • Spiny lobsters
  • Trumpetfish
  • Atlantic spadefish
  • Frogfish
DEPTH & CONDITIONS

Twin peaks top out at about 5 m (15 ft); sand base at 21-24 m (70-80 ft)

The shallow top allows long bottom times. Currents can run here as at nearby Diamond Rock. Suitable for most levels in normal conditions.

$ git log --reverse man-o-war-shoals
02 / History

How it got there.

Undercurrent's 2004 review states that the site is named for a tangle of ships that sank in the shallows. No other source was found to confirm this.

$ grep man-o-war-shoals diving/log | wc -l
03 / Logged here

81 dives.

From the reconstructed log — the dates follow the pattern I dived, so read them as representative rather than exact.

2003 21
2004 60

→ diving  ·  dive log  ·  off duty