Xing da Dive Site, Bermuda

Diving Overview for Xing da

Xing da has a maximum diving depth of around 30 m / 100 ft and is suitable for all divers. The average visibility is 20+ metres and access to the dive site is by boat.

More Information

The Xing da was a small Chinese cargo ship that arrived in Bermuda in the 1990s loaded with Chinese illegal immigrants trying to make it to the US.  The ship was arrested and lay around in Bermuda for a long while abandoned before being acquired as a possible dive site. In about 1995 she was sunk at the outer reef edge to the west side of Bermuda.

For a while she made a terrific dive site then a bad hurricane essentially lifted the wreck and rolled it several hundred metres; in the process smashing it comprehensively.  Now the pieces lie quietly at 30m a few hundred metres outside the outer reef line.  There is a mooring buoy for boats with a good line secured to a large piece of the intact fore part structure.  This is a part of the foredeck with a strong mast designed to support the cargo derricks which is still standing vertically.

The rest of the wreck is scattered along a sandy gully and at the stern the lower part of the hull is intact with the propeller and its shaft in place connected to the main engine all lying on the starboard side and buried in sand up to the centreline.  Lots of pumps and other bits of machinery lie scattered about.  being at a steady 30m the wreck is best seen in two dives allowing enough no-deco time on each to cover it all.

The aft end is a regular home for lionfish and being on the outer reef edge there are often larger open water species around. Visibility is usually excellent.

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