Cienfuegos Wreck

The Cienfuegos Wreck is the remains of an American passenger steamship that ran aground in 1895 on Devil's Backbone reef, northeast of Preacher's Cave beach off North Eleuthera in the Bahamas. She lies where she fell, in about 35 feet (11 m) of water. The steam-powered vessel ran the route between New York City and the Caribbean and met the reef in heavy weather. Villagers from Eleuthera rescued everyone aboard.

The wreck itself is an iron hull of roughly 300 feet, now broken up. The bow section is still intact and rises from the seabed, and engine room components and large boilers are visible. Hull plates have collapsed in places and made swim-throughs. Most interior spaces are inaccessible because of the collapse, so true penetration is neither possible nor needed. The open structure lets you look at the engine room area from outside.

Shallow depth gives plenty of natural light, and visibility is often more than 80 feet (24 m). Orange and purple sponges, brain and star coral and sea fans grow on the iron, and invertebrates cover the surfaces. The wreck suits divers of most skill levels. It is a boat dive, about 15 to 20 minutes from Harbour Island, with Spanish Wells at a similar distance. The Vanaheim wreck lies next to it.