I found this old log I had written from the time I went diving the SS President Coolidge on Santo in Vanuatu, So I thought I’d share it with you, it was two very nice dives.

I will leave som remarks in the end regarding this dive that will be worth noticing.

Happy Reading everyone!

Divelog: The SS President Coolidge, Santo, Vanuatu

Date: 4/7-16 and 5/7-16
Divesites: Orientation dive and to The Lady
Max. Depht: 32 – 45m
Temp: 26*C

Diving  the Coolidge was for me a revelation. I have always said that I don’t see the appeal of diving on a wreck and that I don’t understand why everyone needs to go so deep all the time. I’ve been quit happy diving on reefs down to maybe 20 – 25 meters and shallower looking at fish and coral in all sorts of colours and sizes.

Then , I was On my way to Santo and I started researching my dive options and read about the Coolidge, the largest ship wreck accessible for diving in the world or something like that. It sounded nice enough, it said wherever I read that it was spectacular and a must dive for any diver who has the chance to go there but I didn’t think to much about it.

When I arrived in Santo I headed down to town to talk with Allan Power Dive, the first dive operator to dive the Coolidge. I was starting to get a bit curious about the Coolidge after being in Port Vila diving. All the guys there – when I told them I was going to Santo next – were like: oooo….you’re going to Santo to dive the Coolidge, not like a question but more like a statement. And by the look on their faces – and the fact that they told me to – I could tell I was lucky to and that this actually was something that I should do.

I went into the front door of a villa in the center of Santo and were greeted by a stern – serious looking old fellow in the kitchen making a cup of tea or something. I was told to have a seat outside  on the deck – nice view of the garden and the sea – when he came and joined me I started saying , you know : we want to go diving and we have heard about this ship, the Coolidge when he interrupted and started explaining that they only do dives on the Coolidge (shore dives) and he told us a bit about the ship and it’s history.

I had a think about for a couple of days and then decided to go for it.

Early in the morning on the day of the first dive I got there, filled in some papers, got some gear tried out and packed and got told to wait outside. I just sat down when someone told me to get on the bus, we’re leaving.

On the way there, I was wondering who’s gonna guide us, cause none of the ones that helped out with the gear was on the bus, it all seemed a little bit hectic and unorganized. In the front , the driver and another guide was having a loud discussion on race, immigration, political issues, I don’t know, I think they were trying to solve world problems. (always nice with some entertainment and” strong political views” on a bus ride) This will be interesting I thought!

It’s just a short ride to the dive site and when we get there it turns out the dive instructors came in separate cars. Still it’s all a bit hazy and unknown – I decide to just get my gear set up and get in my wet suit’s – I’ll probably find out soon enough who will be diving with me. Just as I am ready an older woman comes over and introduces her self and say’s she’ll be my guide, I got paired up with another diver and we headed to the beach for a briefing and a bit of history on the Coolidge.

And then, The best part: The Dive!

It turns out they do one guide per two people, which I think is perfect! Maybe that’s always how they do it on wrecks , I don’t know. Anyway , we walk out on the sharp coral, slowly, slowly trying not to cut our delicate feet:) we get to the start of the line to the bow of the ship. Were told to pull our self out and down – just keep going even if we cant see anything – its really murky there in the start but when we get to about five meters its getting really clear and we can almost see the bow  of the ship at 18meters.

Halfway down the line it’s clear as and there’s already things to see: decent size triggerfish, scorpion fish, big snappers and cool little seaweed growing on the line.

The view just as we pass the bow And just look down the length of the ship is amazing. We keep going along the side of the ship – which is actually the top of the ship, cause its lying on it’s side –  looking at big guns and ammo we pass a couple of cargo holes with a bunch smashed up truck’s n tank’s inside. just after the cargo holes we go up and over the side to the top – the side of the boat, because of the earlier mentioned position of the ship – an then , just peek over the edge, up and down the ship towards the deep and back up towards the bow And we just hang there and enjoy for a moment! Awesome view! I could easily have perched my arms on the top and just hang there for half an hour or more , spectacular view’s!

And there is heaps of beautiful coral growing on the ship and fish everywhere. Saw some really cool lionfish!

When I was finished having my moment I kep on after the other two. Our wonderful Little old dive guide tried on some hats and shoes – like a proper lady would – before we were slowly descending down into a crack in the side of the ship leading in to one of the cargo holes. As we come into the  cargo hole, yet again there’s this incredible view of bright blue, being framed by the cargo holes opening, dotted here and there with a few fish. WOW!

From there on we just went back a cross the bow (seeing new cool things we didn’t see the first time) up the line to our safety stop’s. we did three: one at nine, one at six and one at three meters -feeding the fishes with bread the whole time, a nice little bonus at the end of a great dive!

I decided to skip the afternoon dive and do my second dive the morning after.

The Dive started the same way as the day before with my new guide for the day: Paul – a young local guy, who’s really nice and easy to dive with –  he seemed to enjoy the dive a lot too and made me and my new divepartner laugh a lot!

So down the line to the bow, on top, on the side of the side of the ship this time, before we started our decent into the ship and as we were gliding down this corridor with our flashlight on is when I said to myself with a big smile: this is what I want to do! I want to be a wreck diver! And I now understand why a wreck and why the depth – cause within no time we would be on 39m looking at the famous sculpture of the Lady –   Paul is cheering and screaming and pointing , were laughing and trying to take photos forgetting all about that we’re supposed to kiss the lady to get safe passage out again, maybe next time;) We did make it out in the end anyway.

We keep  going down to 45m where we look at some chandeliers and ponder a little (if I may) on the fact that I am now 45m under the surface – breathing- and that it makes me so happy to look at some old chandeliers. ( which I probably wouldn’t even give a second glance on land )

But we cant stay here forever. We got to get out of here before our air does, so slowly up we go through some crack’s and old corridors until we pass the tank’s and emerge into a different cargo hole than the day before.

(At one point during our swimup, Our guide signals for us to turn our flashlights off , I turn it of an so does the other two and all around us through holes and cracks, bright blue light is shining through, magical really=)

More jeeps, trucks , guns and ammo awaits us here in the cargo hole. And again with the framed view of bright blue, dotted with fish and the silhouette of Paul this time, it doesn’t seem to end! WOW!WOW!WOW!

It was getting close to the end now…. Only some safety stops and a bit of fish feeding before surfacing, all of us smiling from ear to ear. What a dive! By far the best dive yet!   And already had so many nice dives! I almost feel spoiled! SS President Coolidge! Nambawan! I’ll be back soon!

I actually have not been back, not because I haven’t wanted to but because life pulled me in different directions.

As to my noticies: This was not disclosed in the text directly but at the time I had no wreck diving training at all. I had not even seen the outside of a wreck before going on these two dives. Also I had about 45 dives or something like that  at the time so as you can understand I was at the infant stages of my diving.

We went into a shipwreck , point of entering the ship was at about 20m and we kept going a good bit into the ship until we reached 45m. If we do the math as we should while diving a wreck I believe this dive would be the eqiuvilant of around 65-70m. it waas hard to say for in truth I had no clue as to where we were in the ship, how far in or howto get out and we did not have a line to follow. What we did have was an aluminum 80 and a handheld small torch each.

in retrospect I would never do this dive – it is very dangerous. I know this now , after getting my wreck diver education and a better insight into how diving should be done.

I would definitely recommend diving the Cooligde however I would do so to divers being wreck trained and certified, who would use their knowledge and follow all necessary procedures.

Happy Diving!

/ Chris Bay