THE WRECK OF THE ENDYMION

After dropping anchor, the divemaster jumps in to check your location and give a quick in-water briefing. It may even be something like this : "There's a bit of a current, but we're almost dead on it. It's just a short swim." "It" is the wreck of the Endymion, located about 10 miles south of Salt Cay in the Turks & Caicos. Backrolling off the boat and in about 20 feet of water, the boat waits for our return.

A swim-through in the reef leads divers to the scattered remains of the Endymion.
The Endymion is an 18th-century British warship that found itself impaled on the reef on Aug. 28, 1790. Now, all that remains, of this once-proud, 140-foot wooden-hulled sailing vessel, is the wreck for us to dive. It is normal to experience current and surge on the wreck and best is to put yur head down, tuck in behind your buddy and kick hard.

After a couple of minutes, you'll reach a picturesque swim-through, a slender portal to a sand-and-coral groove in the reef where the current gives way to a manageable surge, and the vis is glassy-clear. The reef is a series of narrow sand channels flanked by ridges adorned with sponges, sea fans, staghorn and pillar corals, a riot of tie-dyed colors. Juvenile tropicals, like rock beauties and stoplight parrotfish, pinwheel over coral heads, while pairs of gray angelfish and spotfin butterflyfish flit about.

At the end of one coral knoll, an enormous iron anchor is still attached to its chain, which is partially embedded in the reef. Suddenly, it's not difficult to conjure the massive size of the Endymion, or her crew--all of whom survived--scrambling to drop anchor and stop the ship's forward momentum. After more than 200 years on the bottom, its hull, sails and spars long gone, what remains of the Endymion is still impressive. Up and down gullies, in 30 to 40 feet of water, you'll go exploring the flanks of coral ridges, finding warship-worthy anchors and cannons, and stopping to examine bronze pins. The remains of two other wrecks also lie scattered about the reef, victims of the same fate. Lulled by the rocking motion of the surge and the sunlight playing on the sand bottom,you'll succumb to the romance of wreck diving and you'll feel a reluctance to surface.

This article is based on a previous article in Scuba Diver magazine. South Caicos is located 20 miles from the Enymion and we dive it weekly.