Million Dollar Point, diving in a huge US Army dump yard in Vanuatu!

WRECKS, WRECKS, WRECKS! This incredible place is a dump yard with millions of dollars worth of goods from the US Army in clear South Pacific waters! World class wreck diving in Vanuatu, a country in the South Western Pacific!

After the Second World War the US Army did not want to (or could not - different stories exists) take the trucks, guns and supplies back to the US and the French or British did not want to buy it for a very low price either.

They decided to dump jeeps, guns, bulldozers, trucks, tractors and other equipment into the sea so nobody could use it after them for free. With a ramp on the beach millions of dollars worth of vehicles and supplies disappeared in the clear blue waters, destroying the reef and contaminating the water.

Slowly the dump yard turned into a dive yard and the family that owns the property started charging money for people diving into this interesting history from the shore. You can see the rusted engines washed upon shore and you can even spot some wrecks from the surface. Corals and anemones started forming and growing on the trucks and fish found places to hide for predators.

Country	Vanuatu
Dive area name	Luganville, Santo Island
Dive center	Coral Quays Fish and Dive Resort/ Absolute Adventures‎
Famous for	World War 2 wrecks!
Price	Day trip with 2 dives and full equipment rental: 14.200 Vatu (135 US dollar)
Hotel recommendation	Coral Quays Fish and Dive Resort

The sandy/death coral slope gives an easy to access the wrecks. At the point where you put on your fins you can already see piles of artillery like a metal playground with swim-throughs and artifacts to recognize. From 15 to 30 meters depth you can find most of the remains along a few hundred meters of coastline. It is simply everywhere, spread-out over a huge area and often piled-up in the impressive underwater landscape.

This dive is perfect after a deep dive on the SS President Coolidge wreck since there is enough to explore above 20 meters so you will have enough bottom time. Check these amazing piles of rusty machinery and vehicles!



There is a lot more marine life around Million Dollar Point than there is at the SS President Cooligde. Also it is shallower which brings in more sunlight - ideal for underwater photography! On our dive there was a Lizard fish laying on an old metal diner plate, that looked really funny. Do you remember the human treasures Ariel had collected in her cave in the Disney movie Little Mermaid? It looks a bit similar at Million Dollar Point!

About the organization of Coral Quays Fish and Dive Resort/ Absolute Adventures‎

Most dive centers around Luganville do not have a 'front office', just the equipment storage/repair/compressor area and an administration desk.
There are no dive shops to buy equipment or spare parts but you can rent about everything. You can rent equipment per dive, NOT per day and fins/mask/computer is NOT included in the full gear rental set.

Please check the details about the organization on the page of the SS President Coolidge wreck.
There are things to consider before diving deep and inside wrecks.

Comparing dive destinations

Bottom structure	Reef structure	Pelagic (big stuff in the blue)	Big reef (bigger stuff on the reef)	Macro (small stuff on the reef)	Current (stream)
Flat bottom with bumps/big rocks/pinnacles	Hard corals tree-shape (not moving)	Sharks	Turtles	Nudibranchs (snails)	No current
Slope (going down slowly)	Soft corals tree-shape (moving)	Rays	Eels/snakes	Sea horses and pipe fish	Small (you can easily swim against it)
Wall (steep but you see the bottom)	Table-/fan-shape	Trevally/Jacks/Tuna	Groupers	Scorpion/frog fish	Medium (you can swim against it for a little while/higher air consumption)
Drop off (steep and you can't see the bottom)	Anemones	Barracudas	Lobsters/crabs	Octopus/squid	Strong/reef hooks (you cannot swim against it)
Blue (no reference)	Sponges	Sardines/herrings	Puffers	Shrimps	Pumping/washing machine/OMG/hold your regulator (superman)

I would love to hear your opinion about deep wreck dives!
Please share your thoughts and let me know if dive information and tips are useful to you!

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