Wreck Diving in Sri Lanka

By Christian Loader (Scubazoo Images)

Sri Lanka is famous for many things — its national parks, stunning landscapes and beaches, ancient temples, its charming people and cuisine – but it isn't particularly well known as a dive destination, especially compared to its neighbor, the Maldives. In recent years, the most popular attraction here for underwater photographers has been the chance to photograph blue and sperm whales from December to March off the southern coast, near Mirissa. But just off the coast of Colombo, Sri Lanka's busy capital, more than 10 shipwrecks lie in warm, shallow waters (most shallower than 100 feet/30m), close to the city and the international airport. If you're traveling to or from the Maldives, a couple of days wreck diving around Colombo make for a great stopover; the best time of year to dive them is from November to May, when you’ll find calm seas and better visibility. Very close to Colombo is Mount Lavinia, a vibrant, seaside suburb with reasonably priced accommodation, nice beaches and great restaurants. The dive center Island Scuba on the beach at Mount Lavinia launches its boats right off the beach, and all of the wrecks near Colombo are a short speedboat ride away (between 10-45 minutes). The center’s local guides dive these wrecks throughout the season, and are very knowledgeable about the best spots on each one for underwater photographers. There are also two World War II wrecks near Colombo, but these are deeper and thus only accessible to technical divers.

The nearby wreck _Medhufaru _is a Maldivian cargo vessel that sank in 2009 with construction machinery on the deck, and is home to large schools of batfish, and large trevally, which hunt the fusiliers who also live here. You’ll find marbled electric rays nestled in crevices on the main deck.

The Nilgiri tug, also close to Mount Lavinia, sank in 1997 and lies upside down at 101 feet/31m. Although slightly deep for a photography dive, it is possible to get underneath the wreck and explore the upside-down deck and bridge, while outside the hull on the seabed, a large group of lionfish congregates to hunt smaller glassfish and cardinalfish.

Taprobane East wreck is one of the furthest sites from Mount Lavinia, a small barge, heavily broken up, and sitting upright at about 100 feet/30m on a white, sandy plain. The current can be strong, but the visibility is often excellent here. The wreck is covered in soft corals, with large resident schools of yellow snapper and a resident Napoleon wrasse.

Chief Dragon (aka Car Wreck), one of Colombo's iconic wreck dives just north of Colombo Port, is a 367-foot-long (112m) car-transport ship. The main hull is intact and upright with the upper sections scattered over a fairly large area, and the chassis of old cars can be seen on the main deck at 79 feet (24m). This is a fairly deep wreck dive at 79 to 114 feet (24-35m), meaning a short bottom time for photography, but the wreck is covered in hard and soft corals, with resident small schools of bannerfish and honeycomb morays, as well as trevally, mackerel and barracuda schooling above.

Pecheur Breton (aka Cargo Wreck) is a large, intact French cargo vessel that sank in 1994 and lies on its starboard side in 59 to 108 feet (18-33m), with easy penetration into its cargo holds. In my opinion this is the most colorful and photogenic wreck, covered in hard and soft corals and teeming with life — every dive offered something new. Old wooden lifeboats lie on the seabed next to the wreck; the propellers and rudder are intact and covered in hard corals; the cargo holds are easy to explore; marbled electric rays can be found on the wreck as well as the seabed; there are cleaning stations on numerous parts of the wreck, and the gangways are filled with color and life. Swirling schools of silversides reside close to the wreck, and it’s easy to spot sweetlips, snappers and large resident grouper. Above the wreck, schools of fusiliers attract hunting tuna and Spanish mackerel.

As for photography, the obvious choice here is shooting wide-angle, so a large dome port is recommended — shooting with a fisheye lens, or for some tighter compositions and shooting the marine life, use a rectilinear lens (12-24mm, or 16-35mm for example). A small mini-dome will also be useful for certain situations when shooting with a fisheye lens. Depths range from 49 to 98 feet (15 to 30m), so artificial strobe lighting is a must, ideally using two strobes. As any experienced wreck photographer will know, it's essential to have a bright dive light (or focus light attached to your housing), for exploring and shooting in the darker parts of the wreck.

Aside from wreck diving, the current-swept outer reefs off Colombo offer soft corals and large Gorgonian sea fans for wide-angle shooters. After some deeper wreck dives, you may want to do a shallow macro dive on the rocky reefs nearer the coast, so bring a macro lens and port if you can squeeze them into your luggage — a macro lens always comes in handy on any dive trip. While there are camera stores in Colombo, underwater photography equipment is limited, so make sure you have all the accessories you need before you travel.