divEr 18
What do you do when you have time to
spare in Indonesia? Pop over to Vanuatu
to dive one of the world’s most iconic
wrecks, of course. It only took BRANDI
MUELLERfour days to get there...APPOINTMENT WITH
THE PRESIDENT
N
OT THAT MANY PEOPLEgo to
Vanuatu on a whim, but I
happened to find myself in
Indonesia with 10 days to spare.
Vanuatu didn’t seem too far from
Bali, but I found out that it wasn’t
exactly direct. My flight path was Bali,
Singapore, Fiji, Port Vila and finally,
Luganville; home of the President
Coolidge.
It took four days, overnight layovers
in three countries and $400 in excess-
baggage fees, but I arrived in Santo at
the break of dawn. I was exhausted, but
excited to be there.
The tiny airport’s baggage claim
consisted of a table where luggage was
stacked and people grabbed their
things. I went out to meet my driver, and
after loading my bags we were off to
Coral Quay’s Fish & Dive Resort.
Ten minutes later I was checking into
my room and putting my camera
together to go out diving, all before 7am.
Vanuatu became independent in
1980, but before that it was known as
New Hebrides, a group of islands co-
governed by the British and the French.
When WW2 started in the Pacific the
island of Espiritu Santo (Santo for
short) became an important base for the
Allied war effort. Although it never saw
battle, hundreds of thousands of troops
passed through, and the island was
changed forever.President Coolidge
My gear was loaded onto a pick-up that
had seen better days, and we set off. It
was soon clear that the shape of the
truck was circumstantial, because of
dirt roads with more pot-holes than
smooth spots, and as other cars passed
we rolled up the windows to reduce
the dust.
We backed up almost to the water’s
edge. There was a small building withtanks and gear, and we set up our kits
near the shoreline and simply walked in.
It seemed an unceremonial entry to
see one of the best wrecks on Earth, but
the sun was shining, the water was
warm (28°C), and I was about to see the
Coolidge!
Under water, my first view of the
199m-long, 25m-wide former luxury
cruise-liner and warship was a massive
shadow. As I got closer, the bow started
at about 21m depth and hard corals
were growing on the hull.
Resting on the seabed on a steep
slope, the stern sits in 70m, but we
wouldn’t be visiting that on this dive.
We swam along the top deck which,
because the wreck lies on its port side,
feels like a wall-dive.
I could make out the two guns on
their platforms, on the shallower one
a stack of shells. Then I saw my guide
disappear into the first cargo hold.
The Coolidge began her journey
as a liner on completion in 1931,
transporting society’s well-heeled
passengers around the world until 1941.
Then she was put into war service,
and was fully converted into a
troopship. A lot of her finer points were
removed or boarded up, such as the
beautiful glass light-fittings and
a certain famous porcelain relief wall
decoration known as “The Lady”.
The Coolidgewas carrying more than
5000 troops and packed with supplies to
support the war. This was evident from
a pile of trucks and machinery strewn
below us in the hold.
Steering wheels and tyres stood out
as the most identifiable, and my guide
produced a gun encrusted in marine
growth and directed me to a pile of
artefacts that included pitchers, serving
trays and flares.
We continued to explore until our
bottom time ran out and we went