Monday, September 24, 2012

Sinking a Wreck at Small Hope Bay Lodge

Another Awesome Dive Site

Small Hope Bay Lodge takes pride in the diversity of our dive sites and we are constantly on the lookout for new ones.

A friend of Jeff Birch, Anthony Fowler had a mishap with one of his rental planes earlier this summer. The plane was headed for the junk yard when it was suggested that it be used by Small Hope.


Early start, going to pick up the plane

Jeff loved the idea of creating an artificial reef and a sunken plane would make for a very interesting dive site. Jeff sent a crew out on the boat to retrive the plane and bring it back to Small Hope. Once at the dock, small repairs and adjustments were made to the plane to ensure that she would be safe and secure once at the bottom of the blue. 



From left; Tony, Abba, Fede, Austin, Lonnie, Eddie, Byron

Early last week the Small Hope crew took the plane out on Big Boat to the carefully selected site and made the drop. It was not an easy task by any means however with a little ingenuity they were able to land the plane in exactly the rght spot. 


The new site, which features a number of small sand patches surrounded by beautiful coral gardens is in approximately 30-40 feet of water. Baraccuda and quite a few angel fish have been spotted hanging around the wreck.


The site will be used as one of the shallow dives, as well as for the dsd and open water dive students.


Our plane on it's way to the new dive site!

everyone is very excited about the site, officially named "The Landing Strip" and can't wait to start diving it next season. 


Click here to see the plane's journey from junk yard to dive site!



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2 comments:

Unknown said...

So I'm not going to be able to dive it when I'm there in a month?

Small Hope Bay Lodge said...

Since our re-opening we have had a few groups dive the new site. We actually have a group out at the wreck this morning. We will be using the site as a shallow dive during our morning 2 tank dive. Our open water candidates as well as our DSD students will also be able to use the site. We look forward to having you at the lodge in a few weeks and getting out to dive The Landing Strip.