Alma Jane Wreck

The Alma Jane Wreck is a deliberately sunk cargo vessel lying off Small La Laguna Beach in Puerto Galera, Mindoro, Philippines. The MV Alma Jane Express was a 60-ton, 32-metre steel-hulled ship built in Japan in 1966 and scuttled in March 2003 to create an artificial reef and dive training site. The wreck sits upright on a sandy bottom at a maximum depth of 28 metres, with the upper deck at 22 metres, and a large hole in the bow allows access through to the stern.

The wreck's structure supports a mix of wide-angle and macro subjects across its full length. Schools of batfish, snapper, sweetlips, and emperor fish congregate around the open steel grid structure on the upper deck, which is encrusted with hard and soft corals. Blennies peer from holes in the deck, while octopus, cuttlefish, and moray eels shelter beneath the lower curve of the hull. Inside the cargo holds, goldies, banded shrimp, and cleaner shrimp are found in numbers. Scanning the sandy bottom around the wreck turns up nudibranchs, stonefish, mantis shrimp, and hermit crabs. The bow provides a dramatic silhouette view from depth and leads into a swim-through that also gives access to the wheelhouse and cargo holds.

Conditions at the site are generally good, with light current and good visibility. When a mild current is running, the recommended approach is to begin along the port side toward the stern and return along the starboard side. Entry is by boat, mooring approximately 30 metres off the shore of Small La Laguna Beach.