Did You Know You Can Go Scuba Diving To See Ship Wrecks In Goa?

Did you know that the sea in Goa has plenty of shipwrecks, and there are people who will organise scuba diving trips for you to see them up-close?

Scuba divers have access to two of these shipwrecks – Suzy and Davy Jones Locker – which are situated near Grande Island {a 20-minute ferry ride from Benaulim}.

Grande Island has a lot of locations for diving, which is what is used By Barracuda Diving, a diving company in the area that we have heard a lot of good things about. They conduct diving expeditions to these two ship wrecks.

The first one is Suzy’s Wreck, aka SS Rita. This one was built in the UK in the 1930s, and is a 130m metal cargo ship resting in a shallow, calm, sandy bay off Grande Island. She reportedly arrived carrying a cargo of railroad tracks and sank in a storm with loss of only one life. You can not only survey the wreck. but also spot a variety of fish such as barracuda, batfish, angelfish, snappers, lionfish, sweetlips, squid and rays.

The second wreckage is Davy Jones Locker, which only has the stern section and huge propeller visible. With schools of large Grouper taking refuge under the fallen decks, jacks, tuna, barracuda and large schools of banner fish are frequently seen. At 11 meters the highest point of the wreck is a popular place for spotting various species of nudibranch. The main section of this massive wreck, with binnacle and boilers intact, lies close by but the location has still not been found.

While Suzy’s Wreck is good for scuba divers of all levels, the Davy Jones Locker is only for advanced divers.

For beginners, they have a programme for discovering scuba diving, which lasts for one day, starting at 7am. This ends with the ship wreck, depending on the weather and how well you perform in the pool. This is for INR 3,500 for each person, and you must be a group of six at a minimum.

If you’re going alone, or with a second person, you can opt for the two day programme. You come for pool training on day one, and on day two you go out at 8am – 3pm, The cost for the the two days is INR 6,500 for two dives of 45 minutes each.

Write to barracudadiving@gmail.com for more details on cost, their courses and safety measures.

Check out their website here.

Scuba diving trips are shut for the monsoon months from June till September.