Wreck Diving

The Tufi wharf was originally occupied by the Japanese but was subsequently the site of a USN Advance PT Boat base from December 1942 with PT Boats operating along the coast from Buna to Mambare.

Off the wharf there is a large amount of wreckage and debris, including PT Boats, a large concrete boat, empty 200 litre drums and anti-tank barriers. A very interesting dive just a short swim from the wharf, you can dive in and around the remains of 2 PT boats (PT67 and PT119), burned and sunk during an air raid in March 1943. There are still 2 live torpedoes down there completely intact. A couple of anti-aircraft machine guns and lots of ammo are scattered around and about.

One of the highlights of this dive is a perfectly good ol’ Landrover… The secret of how it got to be ‘parked’ there so neatly will be revealed after you completed this dive!

This is a decompression dive with max depth 45m. Deco stops are compulsory and surface interval of 4 hours is mandatory before the second dive.

The WWII US Bomber, nicknamed “Black Jack”, was built in Seattle on July 23, 1943 at a cost of US$314,109. The right-hand side of the nose had two playing cards painted on it: ‘Jack and Ace making 21 in poker’.

Discovered on December 27, 1986, Black Jack’s nose was torn and crumpled when it impacted the bottom. The rest of the bomber is in excellent condition. The waist guns and radio transmitters were jettisoned prior to the crash, but all other weapons and gear are present.

When descending down a submerged mooring buoy, the diver is immediately greeted by a large school of very big batfish. Because this wreck is seldom dived, they are not afraid of divers and come within touching distance. Below them are large schools of pelagic and various varieties of sharks.

The Bomber is in 50m depth (164ft) on a white sandy bottom. Bottom time allowed is only 10 minutes. The rest of the 100 minutes total bottom time of this dive is taken up with the ascent and stringent safety stops along the way.

A special dive profile with compulsory safety stops is required, followed by a minimum surface interval of 4 hrs. Because of its location and long distance from base, there is an extra cost involved in diving this wreck.

We will only allow very experienced divers with a minimum of 50 logged deep dives and a minimum of advanced diver qualification.