We were anchored very close to the Hoyo Maru, and from the Thorfinn could see the shallow water that lies above her. She was a large tanker which was being repaired for torpedo damage, when she was sunk by bombs. She now lies upside down in around 30 metres of water, although she comes up to within 3 metres of the surface. She is actually on a slope so her bow is at around 37 metres. She is almost broken in half, with a very obvious crack amidships. Actually “crack” is a bit of an understatement, “chasm” would be more accurate.
There is a large hole in the stern leading into the engine room (like most tankers, her engines were at the back). We swam around that and into the steerage area. Rita and the guide went a bit deeper into the ship and found a lobster, while Trevor and I headed back outside. We went up over the hull, which is encrusted with hard coral. At the point where the ship is nearly split in two, was a school of 12-15 snapper. There were a lot of reef fish all over the coral on her hull, and a very pretty pipe fish. Oh and of course there was the inevitable school of blue fin trevally.
It was a very colourful site and looks as though it would make an excellent night dive.
Hoyo Maru
- Displacement: 8,691 tons
- Length: 475 feet
- Depth: 3-37 m.
Our Dive
- Depth: 30.7 m.
- Time: 52 minutes
- Gas: Nitrox 32
