This video excerpt tells the story of my first dive to The Carthaginian – a wreck just outside of Lahaina Harbor on Maui.
From Your Next Dive –
“With the desire to continue to do different dives, I also booked a charter with Lahaina Divers to dive to the wreck of The Carthaginian. This ship was a replica of a whaling ship and had been part of the Lahaina waterfront since 1980. It was actually The Carthaginian II. The original Carthaginian was also a replica whaling ship used in the movie Hawaii. It sunk on a reef off of the island. By the early 2000s, The Carthaginian II had become very costly to maintain. Atlantis Submarines purchased the ship to be sunk off of Lahaina as an attraction for their submarine customers. In December 2005, The Carthaginian II settled in 96 feet of water. Submarine and scuba divers were now welcome to visit this underwater attraction.
On January 16, 2007, on my 134th dive, I descended to The Carthaginian. She was sitting on the bottom as if someone had gently placed her there. I marveled at the sight of the ship that graced the harbor for so many years and was now in 100 feet of water. Everything was pristine on the wreck. The mast rose from the depths and the bowsprit jutted in front like she was plowing the ocean. While enjoying the wreck, we heard the whine of engines. The Atlantis submarine approached. Eerily, the lights shone on the wreck and the faces in the portholes of the submarine came into view. With the submarine encounter over, we headed up the main mast to find several frogfish. Our 95-foot dive would end, and we headed to Mala Wharf for a nice long, shallow dive.”
You can also check out this article from Scuba Diving Magazine on The Carthaginian.
You can read about my subsequent dives to The Carthaginian in Your Next Dive – My Adventures in Scuba Diving