All activities / Scuba Diving / Espiritu Santo
Scuba Diving in Espiritu Santo
The largest island in Vanuatu, in the country's north, fringed by WWII wreck diving and blue holes and backed by jungle mountains, caves and rivers. Its town of Luganville is the base for the SS President Coolidge and Million Dollar Point offshore, and for the Millennium Cave, freshwater blue holes and Champagne Beach inland and along the coast.
Why here
Espiritu Santo holds the SS President Coolidge, the largest and most accessible shipwreck in the world you can dive from shore. The Coolidge was a 200 metre luxury liner turned WWII troopship that struck friendly mines off Luganville in 1942 and sank in the channel, and it now lies on its side from about 20 metres down to past 70, close enough to reach from a private beach in a three minute boat hop. Divers swim its cargo holds, gun turrets, promenade and the porcelain relief of a woman and unicorn known as The Lady, in warm clear water. A short way along the coast, Million Dollar Point is a second WWII site where the departing US military bulldozed jeeps, bulldozers and cranes into the sea, now a reef of coral-crusted machinery in easy depths. Between them the island offers reef walls, caverns and technical dives on the Coolidge's deeper engine rooms, making Santo one of the great wreck-diving destinations on Earth.
Best months
The Coolidge and Million Dollar Point are diveable year round in warm water, roughly 24 to 28 degrees, with the calmer, drier weather running May to October. The wreck is huge and deep: the bow sits around 20 metres but the stern and engine rooms run past 40 and into technical range, so most operators want an Advanced certification for the deeper penetrations and offer tech training for the engine rooms. Million Dollar Point is a shallow, gentle dive suitable for all levels. Currents are generally mild, and shore entry keeps boat time short.
Getting there & around
Luganville, Santo's main town, is a short flight from Port Vila on Air Vanuatu and the dive centres cluster along or near the main street, most within a few minutes of the Coolidge shore entry. The wreck is a shore dive, so there is little boat travel, but the depth means dives are done on staged plans with surface intervals across a day. Nitrox and technical gas are available locally for the deeper Coolidge dives. Budget several days to work through the wreck properly, and leave a clear day before flying home given the depths involved.
Skill levels: beginner, intermediate, advanced
Schools & guides (2)
Allan Power Dive Tours
OutfitterAllan Power Dive Tours is Vanuatu's original dive centre, on Espiritu Santo since 1981 and named for the pioneer diver who logged over ten thousand dives on the SS President Coolidge. From a private beach a three minute boat hop from the wreck's bow, its PADI instructors run shore dives onto the 200 metre Coolidge and the WWII dump at Million Dollar Point, plus courses from beginner to technical grades. Ownership passed to new operators in 2018 who kept the name and the wreck focus.
Pacific Dive
OutfitterPacific Dive is an owner-run dive centre on the main street of Luganville, Espiritu Santo, and an SDI and TDI instructor training centre, teaching up to technical and instructor grades. It runs daily trips onto the SS President Coolidge, the largest and most accessible shipwreck in the world at close to 200 metres, and Million Dollar Point. It works with small groups and specialises in technical diving on the wreck's deeper holds and engine rooms.