Top Snorkeling and Scuba Diving in Port Vila

STAR OF RUSSIA: 80 metres in length and 13 metres in breadth, this grand old lady of the sailing ship days rests in Port Vila Harbor holding court for the divers attending by countless varieties of tropical fish fussing around on the tour around the shipwreck. Following the buoyed line to a depth of 33 metres take a leisurely swim through the body of the ship which again, due to the rotting away of the teak decking, is perfectly safe for a penetration. Built of bolted iron plates (shiplap style), the hull is intact with a romantic shapely bow. Divers can inspect the old anchor weighting equipment and huge main bollard in the forward section, dead eyes and rigging along the railings, three massive masts and remains of a crow's nest, to the wheel machinery at the stern which manipulated the rudder. A great shipwreck to enjoy and quite definitely of historical interest, the "Star of Russia" was built by Harlan and Wolff of Belfast (also famous for construction of the Titanic). A challenging race was set up in the early 1900's between this fast sailing ship and the first of the exciting new steamships – both crafts left Liverpool together, the steam ship setting off direct for Australia and the "Star of Russia" heading south to catch the wind – imagine the reaction when the steam ship puffed into Port Phillip Bay to find the "Star of Russia" had arrived three days earlier!! Dive Site is located in the harbor of Efata (Port Vila). South west of Iriki Island about 100m from the mainland. There is a mooring attached to the bow of the Star Star Of Russia is also known as Guy Robinson.

With depths starting at 3 meters this is a great dive for all levels of divers from the newly certified to the very experienced. Konanda Reef has a large variety of hard coral and fish life, some of the fish and coral life that you will come across on this dive are Clown Fish, Bat Fish, Lion Fish, Moorish Idols, large Brain Corals, Stag Horn Corals, not to mention Moray Eels, Octopus and the much loved Nudibranch. Konanda Reef is only a 15 minute boat trip on MV Cowrie from Nautilus base.

Most species of tropical fish are to be found on this site which features a sheer wall as well as the two "bombora" formations riddled with grottos. The site alive with fish life all used to divers and not afraid of the camera flash – depth from 10 metres on top of the reef to 18 metres over the edge of the drop-off. Dive Site is in the harbour of Efata (Port Vila)

The darling of the keen wreck divers, "Konanda" sits flat on a sandy bottom at 26 metres, her derricks and rigging reaching up to within 10 metres of the surface. Imagine, even the snorkels can enjoy themselves here on the nearby reef as well, "Konanda" is an Island Trader, 45 metres in length, which was damaged in a vicious cyclone and deliberately sunk in October 1987 for the delight of scuba divers. She was carefully prepared so that penetration of the wreck into the cabins and holds is safe and makes an ideal introduction to the fun of wreck diving.

This extensive reef rises up in the middle of Mele Bay to around 6 metres from the surface. We have more than one buoy here and generally like to dive where there is a vertical wall with a shallow reef top to finish off the dive under the boat. Masses of interesting life at this spot – you will want to visit Mele Reef more than once. In the middle of Mele Bay.

Less than ten minutes from Nautilus lies the Qantas S26 Sandringham Flying Boar – now here is something different. With a wingspan of over 30 metres this bulky giant, abandoned and dumped in the Harbour after a mishap which rendered it unfit for further service, was discovered in 1978, after quite a search, as a fascinating dive site. To successfully explore the "Tasman", the diver needs to plan for 40 metres maximum depth. The mooring line leads onto the tail plane and from there it is easy to swim above the wreck gaining an overall view of the plane and drop onto the nose, climb through the cockpit window and out the other side, and peer through the many windows. The spaciousness of the interior is surprising and the vastness of the wings which kept this old bird airborne is astonishing – just a reminder of the days when air travel was a long slow process. This particular craft was also a record breaker – she was the first plane to fly the Tasman Sea from Auckland to Sydney in less than eight hours!! Near Iririki Island Resort Tasman Flying Plane is also known as VH-EBW, Qantas S26 Sandringham, Sunderland Mk V.