El Planchón Wreck

El Planchón is a small cargo vessel deliberately scuttled in the 1980s as an artificial reef, now sitting upright in 18 to 28 m of water and encrusted in an extraordinary diversity of sponges, tunicates, and soft corals that have transformed the hull into a living reef. Glassfish pack the interior in shimmering clouds while large groupers, snapper, and a resident green moray eel patrol the exterior, and lionfish — an invasive species now common across the Caribbean — have colonised every overhang. The wreck is penetrable for qualified divers through the main hold and bridge section, where visibility inside is reduced but the concentration of life on every surface is remarkable.