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| Image by Ty Sawyer |
Curacao's World-Class Wreck
The day the Superior Producer sank in 100 feet of water just outside the busy port of Willemstad, off the island of Curacao, the people of the island cheered. Almost immediately, blue jeans, cotton T-shirts, sheets and crates of whisky began to wash up on shore. The 240-foot cargo ship's hold was filled at the time with clothes and drink, headed for Venezuela for the Christmas shopping season. In fact, it had been greedily overloaded and had left port against the advice of its captain, whose dire warnings became reality almost before the crew had finished waving good-bye to the people on the shore. The ship's cargo shifted in the ocean swells, and the Superior Producer sank quickly and on an even keel. Local divers had a great time in their "rescue" efforts "recovering" the cargo. In just a few days, everyone on the island was dressed in new clothes (those who couldn't dive bought items at an extremely discounted rate at the local markets) and roaring drunk.
Divers today still find the occasional bottle on the wreck, but over the years (it sank in 1978) the ship has been transformed into an island of color. Vivid orange cup corals cover the wheelhouse, crowds of yellow and purple tube sponges have sprouted from the boom, which hangs over the rail and reaches off into the sand. Blackbar soldierfish hide out in the shadows of the wheelhouse, and there's usually a large barracuda that hangs out at the bow. It's fun to explore in and out of the shadows of the open cargo hold.
The sight of the wreck as you descend upon it never fails to inspire, as the bow and superstructure materialize from the blue. And this ship has truly become an undersea kingdom, with piles of macro life teeming over the structure. It's hard to know where to start on a wreck such as this. At night, the cup corals and tiny hunters ignite the surface of the ship with a fiery glow and the nonstop movement of miniature predator and prey. Everything from bristleworms to cleaner shrimp call the nooks and crannies of this artificial reef home, and it's not until you slow down and really start to see the intricate details of marine life that you fully appreciate the impact this wreck has had on the undersea environment.
It's a must-dive in the quickly emerging dive world of Curacao.
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