Page 416 - Micronesia

Sub Chaser #1. 20-90+ feet. Intermediate to Advance. On a sandy bot-
tom with scattered coral heads at 90 feet is what is left of one of three that starts across the street from the dive shop at Rota’s East Harbor
WWII Japanese auxiliary submarine chasers. This area was heavily
damaged in June of 1996 when depth charges on the site were declared
a major hazard and were blown up by the U.S. Navy at the request of
then CNMI Governor Froilan C. Tenorio. There are still many parts of
the ship lying around the immediate area.
Sub Chaser #2. 30-60+ feet. Novice to Intermediate. Among the crev-
ices and corals of the reef lie the scattered remains of a WWII Japa-
nese auxiliary submarine chaser. One of three in the area. There isn’t
much left of the WWII era wooden ship. All that is recognizable is the
engine block, prop shaft and the propeller. A few metal bits and pieces
are scattered about the engine block, but mostly they are too covered
in coral growth to be noticed (unless you look closely). This site is
within the boundaries of the marine sanctuary.
Fireworks. Depth: 15-70 feet. Novice Eels to Intermediate. Descrip-
tion: An easy relaxing dive that starts on the reef in about 15 feet of
water and continues down to a sandy bottom with scattered coral
heads that contain a variety of small fish which, seek the shelter of
the coral, but come exploding out in great numbers once they become
accustomed to the divers presence. Keep an eye out for stingray’s that
roam the sand flats, garden eels and razorfish that dive into the sand
when they feel threatened. Very nice coral formations around the boat
mooring.
Shoun Maru. 70-100 feet. Advanced. Description: A 400ft. Japanese
WWII freighter in great visibility. The wreck has been blown open
by man and tested by Mother Nature for 60 years to reveal trucks,
bicycles, bottles, bathtubs and a triple expansion steam engine. Sur-
rounded by garden eels.
East Harbor - Novice to Intermediate. Depth: 10-70 feet. A beach dive
boat ramp. A short swim either underwater or on the surface takes
you through the harbor channel. Then head out to the second reef.
Scattered reef and coral heads are the main terrain features along the
way. This is a good warm up dive or a third dive for the day. Look for
the large barracuda that sometimes hangs out just below the surface
outside the channel. The area is littered with several ships anchors
that appear and disappear with the changing sands. Common sight-
ings include stingrays, turtles, octopus, porcupine pufferfish, schools
of surgeonfish, parrotfish and on rare occasions small crocodile fish.
Senhanom Cave. 30-80+ feet. Advanced. A grotto approachable only
from the water, with the entrance at about 40 ft. Inside are schools of
redfish, bronze sweepers and sometimes a lobster or two. The suns
rays shining down through the roof opening can be most hypnotic.
Senhanom Wall. 60-130+ feet. Advanced. Edge of a reef flat in 40-50
ft. of water that drops off into ocean depths of well over 130 ft. Look
for blue spotted groupers, schools of pyramid butterfly fish, Napole-
onfish, dogtooth tuna and sharks along the wall. Some nice soft corals
are found here.