Bianca C — Bianca C Wreck

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Overview

180-meter Italian Costa Line cruise liner that caught fire and exploded in her boiler room on October 22, 1961 while anchored off St. George's; a Royal Navy frigate tried to tow her clear but the line parted in a squall and she sank on October 24 about a mile off Grand Anse Beach. The largest diveable wreck in the Caribbean lies upright on sand with her bow at roughly 27 m and the stern at 50 m, the hull split aft of midships in 1992 by Hurricane Lenny. Divers descend a shotline straight onto the bridge and superstructure, swim past the swimming pool deck draped in black coral and gorgonians, and drift along the hull as eagle rays, horse-eye jacks, barracuda, and occasional reef sharks pass overhead. The Times has named it one of the top ten wreck dives in the world.

Briefing note

Strongly recommended as a tech or extended-range dive: bow sits at 27 m, decks and superstructure at 30-42 m, sand at 50 m. Most operators require a minimum of 30+ logged dives, Advanced Open Water with Deep Diver specialty, and nitrox; full penetration requires Wreck Diver certification and is risky because the 1992 collapse left jagged metal and silt traps. Surface currents can run 2-3 knots and the wreck is typically dived as a one-way drift with a surface marker buoy mandatory. Nearest recompression chamber is at St. George's General Hospital. The site is closed when swells push current beyond safe limits, most often August-October.

What you'll see

7 species curated

Eagle ray
year-round
Peak: Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct · Nov · Dec
Great barracuda
year-round
Peak: Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct · Nov · Dec
Horse-eye jack
year-round
Peak: Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct · Nov · Dec
Caribbean reef shark
seasonal
Peak: Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · May · Nov · Dec
Hawksbill turtle
year-round
Peak: Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct · Nov · Dec
Black coral
year-round
Peak: Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct · Nov · Dec
Goliath grouper
rare
Peak: Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct · Nov · Dec

Sightings evidence

1 record on file

Eagle ray
high confidence
Last confirmed
May 2026
Recent records
130 within 10 km
Cluster months
Year-round

Sources & methodology

How we summarise this

We aggregate confirmed occurrence records from GBIF and OBIS within a fixed radius of each dive site. Occurrence records confirm presence and reveal seasonality clustering, but they DO NOT measure per-dive probability — there is no eligible-effort denominator. We deliberately do not publish a numeric '% chance of sighting' from this data.

Sources

Global Biodiversity Information Facility — GBIF Secretariat
Ocean Biodiversity Information System — IOC-UNESCO
OBIS-SEAMAP — Duke University Marine Geospatial Ecology Lab / OBIS
iNaturalist — California Academy of Sciences & National Geographic Society
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — International Union for Conservation of Nature
WoRMS — World Register of Marine Species — Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ)
FishBase — FishBase Consortium
Atlas of Living Australia — CSIRO / GBIF Australia
REEF Volunteer Fish Survey — Reef Environmental Education Foundation

The wreck

Ship history

Freighter · Italy
Bianca C
No formal protection
Built
1944
Sunk
Oct 22, 1961
Length
180 m
Tonnage
18,427
Diveable depth
27–50 m
How she sank
Accident
Italian liner that caught fire in St George's harbour and was towed to deeper water where she sank. Sometimes called 'the Titanic of the Caribbean.' Sits upright; the swimming pool is the iconic photo spot.
Notable features
- swimming pool
- bow railings
- stern section
- spotted eagle rays

Vessel histories sourced from the Naval History and Heritage Command (DANFS), NOAA ENC Direct, and editorial research. Bathymetry per GEBCO. See the methodology for limits.

Conditions

Month	Water	Visibility	Current
Jan	26–27 °C	25–40 m	moderate
Feb	26–27 °C	25–40 m	moderate
Mar	26–27 °C	25–40 m	moderate
Apr	27–28 °C	25–40 m	moderate
May	27–28 °C	20–35 m	moderate
Jun	28–29 °C	18–30 m	strong
Jul	28–29 °C	15–30 m	strong
Aug	28–30 °C	15–30 m	strong
Sep	28–30 °C	15–25 m	strong
Oct	28–29 °C	18–30 m	strong
Nov	27–28 °C	20–35 m	moderate
Dec	26–28 °C	25–40 m	moderate

Season calendar

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Peak season highlighted · current month outlined

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