SS Conch and Earl of Shaftesbury Wreck Dives, Hikkaduwa - Sri Lanka

Dive date: 26th Dec 2016

Dive 1

Conch SS

Dive time:53 mins

Depth:21 m

Temp: 28 degrees C

Visibility:5-10 metres

The website Sri Lanka Archaeology has lots of in-depth information on the SS Conch.  It was an iron oil tanker which sank in 1903.  It was a really nice dive site which also offered a nice cave-like swim-through.

 

 

Ripples in the sand

Propeller

Anchor

 

Ribs of the hull clearly seen in this video.

 

Butterflyfish

Angelfish

Nudibranch

Dive 2

Earl of Shaftesbury 

Dive time:53 mins

Depth:14 m

Temp:  degrees C

Visibility: 5-10 metres

The four masted iron sail ship Earl of Shaftesbury capsized and sunk in May 1893 not far from the SS Conch.  It was constructed in the shipyeard of Ramage and Ferguson in Leith, Scotland.  It was en route to the Diamond Island from Bombay when it met its fate near Akurala-Hikkaduwa.  It weighed 2100 tons and was 85 metres long, 13 metres wide and 7 metres in height.  It now lies on a flat sandy terrain at a depth of around 15 meters.  The hull of the ship can still be clearly identified along with some of its masts and sides of the cabin.

I saw lots of really beautiful nudibranchs at this dive site.  There were also plenty of colourful reef fish.

Anchor

 

 

Yasmin and Kemal