Phoenix Shoal

About this dive site

Explore the water around Western Cape

Name The Phoenix was a British ship of 500 tons, built-in 1810. It was wrecked a little to seaward of Phoenix Shoal in Simon's Bay on 19 July 1829 while on a voyage from Ceylon with passengers and a cargo of sundries, part of which was saved. No lives were lost. She was armed with two cast-iron cannon. Some of the iron ballast can be seen on the reef, while her stem lies buried in the sand. Depth: Maximum depth is about 10 m. Parts of the shoal reach the surface, and there is an extensive area of shoal shallower than 6 m. Features: Wreckage of a wooden ship of historical interest. Photography: This is not a site with much to photograph, and macro equipment is most likely to produce worthwhile results. Occasionally in good visibility, it may be possible to get good results with a wide-angle lens and natural light. Topography: Scattered low to medium profile reef on flat sand bottom. Whale vertebra and rib or jawbone on the sand. Encrusted iron wreckage on the sand at S34°11.388', E018°26.898'. Buried but with a bit showing above the sand. Probably structure of the Phoenix. The wreckage mostly lies in a gap between two shallower sections of the reef at the northeastern side of Phoenix shoal, as shown on the map.