Scuba Diving

Up close and personal with the Marine Life

There are many Scuba Diving sites in Sri Lanka that spread out across the Western, Southern and Eastern coasts of the island. These locations are of such variety and beauty enabling even amateur scuba divers as well as the experienced ones revel in the opportunities presented. Sri Lanka’s Scuba Diving sites offer opportunities for all to enjoy wreck diving, explore reefs and their abundance of marine life. Sri Lanka is an all year round Scuba Diving destination. Most of the reputed dive centers offer PADI certifications that may take about 3 to 4 days to complete.

Scuba Diving Operators

Scuba Diving operators generally have small boats (for about 6 divers) and larger boats for about 15 divers. You can reach these Scuba Diving Sites within 10 to 45 minutes depending upon the distance to the location from the shore.

Wreck Diving in Sri Lanka

For centuries Sri Lanka was featured prominently across the central asian maritime shipping routes where spices and tea were shipped from Asia. During the Second World War, Sri Lanka was a strategic location in transportation through the Suez Canal and the Strait of Malacca. During the centuries since the colonial era, the coastline of Sri Lanka has claimed numerous vessels. The historical records have revealed of a possible existence of over 200 shipwrecks around the coast of Sri Lanka which could have been during the 500 years of the maritime powers of Portuguese, Dutch and the British. Of the ships that were discovered, many of the wrecks have been disintegrated owing to the unceasing events of the ocean. Marine life is in great abundance in and around these wreckage sites and are must-see places if you ever happen to visit the island.

Famous Wrecks in Sri Lanka

The HMS Hermes

Among all the wreck diving sites in Sri Lanka, WWII wreck of The HMS Hermes is given prominence. The 167 meter long, 12,900 ton aircraft carrier was sunk together with a crew of 307 men by the Japanese in an air raid on 9th April 1942. The wreck is a designated “military maritime grave” while access to the inside of the wreck, removal of artifacts and photographing human remains aren’t allowed as it is considered a commonwealth war grave.

Car Carrier Wreck

Car Carrier Wreck is a huge vessel that sank in 1983. Large batfish and groupers are found in abundance around the hull which is encrusted with coral. While the cars can be seen at a depth of 24m, diving further down will bring you to the ship’s huge propeller.

Barge Wreck

The Barge wreck that lies at a depth of 30m has teeming schools of fish over the deck which is overlaid with corals.

Taj Wreck

Taj Wreck, a 45m harbor boat, is home to schools of barracuda, rabbit fish and stingrays. Some broken up areas of the hull are open to Scuba Diving penetrations.

Wreck of an Aircraft

The wreck of an aircraft shot down during the Second World War lies at a depth of 30m. The aircraft’s wings, cockpit and twisted remains of its propeller can still be clearly identified.

Wreck of SS Conch

The most visited site is SS Conch, the 3300-ton oil tanker which has been sunk off the rocks at Akurala. Lying in a depth of less than 15 meters are two halves of the wreck abundant with marine life. The wrecks afford so