Comments (17) (Kadena Steps/Kadena Seawall) This dive site is one of my favorites. Easy to get in and out. Very diverse as far as fish and coral life. Lots of eels as well as sea snakes. A lot of instructors favor this site as it's easy to navigate and has a sandy bottom. The soft corals here are beautiful and the fish are friendly and not afraid of divers. The clarity can be affected by excessive rain fall and windy conditions. Look closely in cracks and crevices for small macro life including cleaner shrimps and small crabs. There are also usually a lot of nudibranchs to be found. The coral garden across the top of the reef is spectacular. The anemone fish around this area are not afraid of divers and can be aggressive. Unless you have gloves on keep your hands away from them. If you hear a snapping sound look around for the anemone. These guys swim around snapping thier jaws when divers get too close. During the winter months we were able to hear whale songs from the visiting Humpback whales in the area. Although we could not see the whales and had no idea how far away they were, we definetely heard them and it was amazing! (Darlene's Cargo Wreck) Eric.Eckman, Chuck, Kurtis, Susan, Darlene Fong
Hi Scott!
Here are the facts of the dive along with some photos. Larger res photos may be available if desired. Do you have the lat/long for the wreck? From Google Earth: 26 23’ 00” N 128 02’00” E Roughly 3 miles East South East of Ike-Shima. This is a guestimate based on southwest wind with Ike off our starboard aft quarter. It is unlikely one could locate this wreck with this information. Chris Pancoast knows the exact location and all dives should be undertaken with him on his boat due to his experience finding and fishing on the wreck, and his knowledge of the ocean currents in this area of Okinawa.
Do you have the exact date for the wreck? Date of the wreck is unknown; however, it shows similar decomposition traits to that of the Emmons, so I suspect it is from that era (my opinion).
Dive info: 31 Jan 2010, Dive Time 1022; dive duration – 51 minutes; descent time: 9 minutes; time on bottom 4 minutes; Equivalent Narcotic Depth at max depth: 85 feet
Width is approximately 40 feet; length is unknown at this time – we had ~75’ viz and could not see the superstructure from the bow.
Top of the forecastle was 215, main deck at 225, and to the sand was 250 to 270.
VIS = 50-80', NO CURRENTS THAT DAY DURING SLACK TIDE,, NO WAVES/SURGEWATER TEMP WAS 69F (Eric and Darlene WORE DRY SUITs, CHUCK WORE WETSUIT - 5MM), AIR TEMP WAS 69-75'F BECAUSE IT WAS cloudy/raining ALL MORNING.
True name unknown: Wreck named in honor of first dive team lead to dive it: Darlene’s Wreck
Date of the wreck is unknown. The wreck appears to be a cargo ship that is lying in sand and shallow reef patches very exposed to the water column. Age is unknown; it is not a charted wreck according to Japanese Coast Guard. Possible three wrecks in the area according to Chris Pancoast, Boat Captain. This wreck was discovered by Chris Pancoast who has successfully fished it. He inquired of the wreck to the local coast guard and they were unaware of any wreck in this area. Chris reported a suspect structure to Darlene who organized the first exporatory dive on the wreck. Dive team included: Boat Captain Chris Pancoast, Dive Team Lead Darlene Fong, Dive Team Supervisor Chuck DeCesari, Dive Team Photographer Eric Eckman, Safety Support Divers Kurt Reese, and Suzan Gada. Qualifications recommended to dive Darlene's wreck include PADI full Trimix or equivalent with experience to 250 feet or more. Do not attempt this dive on air; the depth of the main deck is beyond air toxicity limits, the open ocean exposure, and unpredictable nature of the dive site make dive's within Tec Deep air limits unreasonable. Perhaps future exploration of the wreck and it's superstructure will find otherwise. This awesome dive was capped off by a porpoise frolicking around the dive boat once we reboarded from the dive. Congratulations to Chris and Darlene for bringing this lost ship to light again!
Cheers! Eric Echman
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