wreck of the chikuzen

We are divers but chose to snorkel over this wreck. If you have never been to a wreck before this is a great place to start. You will be amazed at the condition of the wreck after all of this time.

Goliath Grouper, reef shark, large schools of fish, 200 foot viz.Simply a super dive site. I was surrounded by a school of thousands (yes, thousands) of yellowtails while diving here and instead of swimming off, they swam WITH me. It was a real rush. This was just after swinmming with a Goliath Grouper that dwarfed me and just before a 6-7 foot reef shark cruised by. Hard to beat this site and I rank this as one of the best dives I have ever done.Dove it with Dive BVI and they did an excellent briefing and followed a profile that allowed a safe 50 minutes on the wreck

I have made several dives on this site over the years Dive BVI and never been disappointed. Whether it's dolphins putting on a show for us, Eagle Rays or fields of starfish it is always an exciting and fun dive. It takes some time to get there and the seas not always accommodating, but well worth it. If you have the opportunity, take It!

The Chikuzen is a large, intact refrigerator vessel that was once part of the Japanese fishing fleet out of St. Martin. The owners decided one day to set her on fire and let her sink at sea, rather than properly scrap her. Well, the Chikuzen almost went aground on Marina Key until local authorities brought her under control and were going to scuttle her near Anegada (I believe).Well, halfway there, the Chikuzen sank in about 80 feet of water.Now the Chikuzen rests on her side and is teeming with life. We saw large sting rays, giant eagle rays, barracuda, and all sorts of other fish.Visibility was perfect for us at about 50 feet or so...maybe more. The "tour" is quite simple, in that you descend at the stern and swim around the ship and go back up. There are places you can safely penetrate the wreck, including the hold which was a massive refrigerated area for the fish.The wreck is seldom visited due to two reasons; the first is that it is quite a bit a ways from Virgin Gorda or Torolla, and the second is that the waters are a bit rough, as you are out in the open ocean at this point. Half the divers on my boat were sick, but they all still went down. Once you get below the surface, the currents aren't bad at all.So, if you can brave the currents or have an iron stomach, you should definitely do the Chikuzen.Thanks Dive BVI!!

I love the Chicuzen - one of the few places you can see big animals near Virgin Gorda - there are always lots of giant rays. The dive operations don't get to go out here much since the wreck is in the middle of nowhere. Upside is that it attracts great sea life and it's a huge, impressive wreck. Downside is the rough, ocean crossing - don't go if you have a weak stomach.

The Chikuzen is amazing, if you are capable of diving it. This dive is not for the weak or inexperienced diver. This dive requires excellent communication and the ability to accurately swim against a current exceeding 2 knots for prolonged periods while navigating in potentially limited visibility with few or no landmarks to an extremely small, virtually camouflaged target (the mooring line). The penalty for a miss is significant. There is nothing but open ocean for many miles in every direction.The first challenge is finding the wreck. The chart plotters on most yachts and various maps provide inaccurate positions. The second challenge is braving the current, which was quite strong the day we dove. One of our divers had his fin ripped off by the current while holding the downline and gave up before the dive started. Once down though, the dive was phenomenal. The ship is in magnificent condition and attracts tons of life, including some decent-sized black tipped reef sharks, an enormous lionfish, and loads of other life. Despite strong currents visibility was the best we experienced in the BVI. We captured amazing video which was the highlight of our trip.

We lucked out and got to do this dive on a day when the seas were flat calm. so flat in fact that while my husband and I dove, the kids snorkels above us the entires time and could see us when we were down 70 feet.The Chickuzn is a fabulous dive, home to thousands of fish, including a Lionfish. We saw the biggest stingray we have ever seen, about 6 feet across. A beautiful big spotted eagle ray swam with us for most of the dive and we saw the giant sea turtle that lives there. The wreck is is the middle of the sea, with only one mooring ball, so unless its very calm its not safe to dive here. we got lucky that day and it was an unbelievable dive!

This wreck is in about 75 feet of very clear water. Saw 3 lionfish and lots of other reef fish. Went with Dive BVI. Highly recommended.

The Chikuzen is a wreck that you don't often get to dive. It's kind of mid sea with nothing around and they need really calm waters to get out there. If you are prone to sea sickness, beware, but I love this dive. I've gone 3 times. It's one of the few places in the BVI I've seen large animals and the sheer size of the wreck in the middle of nothing is really impressive. As the years go by, there is more coral and small sea life attracted to this artificial reef near nothing else. Hard to photograph due to scale.

The wreck of the Chikuzen is an isolated wreck about 12 miles north of Tortola and Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands. It lies in about 75 feet of water, which is normally very clear. Because it is literally miles from anywhere, the wreck attracts a wide array of marine life. The wreck is approximately 270 feet in length, and is still almost entirely intact. The wreck sank in 1987, and so now has a fairly established coral growth, adding colour and life to the superstructure. Although one can get inside parts of the cabin and cargo hold, it is not considered to be a "penetration dive".Although not an especially difficult or challenging dive, because the site is so remote, it is not so frequently dived. Although much less famous than the other reknown wreck dive in the British Virgin Islands, the RMS Rhone, the Chikuzen is very much as attractive (although with a less poignant sense of history), but much less crowded.Not all dive operators go to the Chikuzen, so ask before you book. But for scuba divers, this is an attraction they would be advised not to miss.

The Chikuzen is really a world class dive if the conditions are right for such a remote dive-site. We have beeen sailing in the BVIs in Nov 2002 and made 2 dives at the chikuzen: We saw many different kind of fishes in enormous quantity. We also meet 2 sharks about 6 feet away from us, circeling us for severel times (I think, they are used to be feet by someone, because I have never seen so curious sharks before). We didn´t penetrate the wreck but just had a look in it: I think the surrounding of the wreck is so amazing, you should prefer to surround it twice. For experienced divers this wrecksite is a must and definitly the best one in the US- & BV-Ilands.Have fun,Max

If you find yourself diving in the BVI, the first thing you must do is ask whichever dive operator you are using when they next plan to go to The Chikuzen. They only go once a week, and even that's weather dependent. The Rhone is more famous, but the Chikuzen is more impressive - and you won't be alongside 20 other punters doing the rounds which is the case at the Rhone, unless you have the means to get there early. I dived the Rhone with friends at 7.30am and we had the place to ourselves. By 12.30pm I heard there were 11 boats moored over the Rhone!When you first get into the water over the Chikuzen, you may only just be able to make out the wreck, if at all. As you descend through the barracuda, the huge hull of the ship comes into view, the propellor to your right, the rigging and upper deck to your left. The great thing about the fish life here is that it is all bigger! Jewfish, the odd shark, rays and a pair of cobia are all about to be spotted, but for me it's the wreck itself that is just amazing. In pretty good shape (but don't enter it - some reports say you can, but when I was last there a huge piece of the deck had collapsed recently.) one tank should be good for two circuits, or one very leisurely round trip. If you like wrecks, this is one not to be missed.