Two dives · the Vagero
Wreck Trip — Two Dives
Two dives on the wreck known as the Vagero — a cement freighter that went down off Tartus in a storm in March 2009 and has lain at twenty-five metres ever since — with a surface interval between them for a rest and a cylinder change, then a seafood lunch at Ark restaurant once you are back on land. Four hours in all, three divers maximum. This is a deep dive: bring a certificate that permits the depth, and the team confirms the level with you when you book.
4 hours
Duration
$175
Price
Up to 3
Group size
- All equipment provided
- Led by a certified instructor
- Suitable from age 12
How the day runs
Every trip follows the same steady rhythm, from the safety briefing to the return to shore.
- 01Certification check, equipment check and safety briefing
- 02Depart from Shaheen Resort
- 03Sail out to the wreck off Tartus port
- 04First dive on the wreck
- 05Surface interval — rest and cylinder change
- 06Second dive on the wreck
- 07Return to shore
- 08Seafood lunch at Ark restaurant
The wreck
On a night in March 2009 a small freighter, loaded with cement, lay off Tartus harbour. The storm came in, the rain hardened, the sea rose. By morning there was no ship.
Eight sailors were aboard. All eight came through it — every one of them reached shore. The freighter stayed where she went down.
A few lines were written about her in a newspaper, and then everyone forgot. Sixteen years of silence, and nobody knew whether she was still down there at all.
She is. A team of academy divers went to the site and found her resting on the bottom at twenty-five metres, exactly as she sank. Nobody raised her, nobody moved her, nobody disturbed her. The only thing that has changed her is the sea — it covered her in green, the fish moved in, and it turned a freighter into part of the seabed.
She is known as the Vagero. There is an old ship of that name in the registers, built in 1971 — but nobody has yet read the name cut into her hull down there.
Two questions are still open. Her holds were full of cement the day she sank, and wet cement sets hard; no one has been inside to see what became of it. And the eight men who could tell the whole story have never been named in print. Every dive on this site adds a small piece to the picture.
The visitor guide
The academy's own guide to this dive site — the story, what you will see below, and how we run it. Arabic, PDF.
Download the guide (PDF)from
Resort entry is paid at the gate, not through this booking — Thu/Fri/Sat 1,400 SYP adults · 1,100 children; other days 1,100 · 900 (tax included).
Bring your certification card — an Open Water certificate or above is required to dive.
- At Shaheen Resort, Tartus · Open in Maps
- Instant confirmation code
- Half now holds your place — the rest at the resort