Epave Catalina
17.5436°S 149.6090°W · wreck
Epave Catalina is a wreck dive site in the Faa’a lagoon near Papeete airport, Tahiti, French Polynesia, featuring the submerged remains of a Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boat deliberately sunk in 1962 to create an artificial dive site.
Overview
The PBY Catalina at Tahiti was a twin-engine amphibious patrol aircraft that operated between Tahiti and Bora Bora during WWII (when Bora Bora had only a single airstrip). The aircraft was deliberately scuttled in 1962 — not sunk accidentally — to create a dive attraction. The wreck rests at approximately 13–21 metres depth on a sandy slope in the Faa’a lagoon, marked by a buoy near Papeete Airport. The fuselage, wings, and tail section remain recognisable. Lagoon visibility averages 20–25 metres, and water temperature is 27–28°C year-round. The wreck is often dived as part of a combination trip with a nearby cargo schooner wreck a few hundred metres away.
What to Expect
The fuselage and wings provide structure for corals and encrusting growth accumulated over six decades. The interior is accessible through hatches near the tail section and through the cockpit. Parrotfish, blue-striped snappers, lionfish, and stonefish inhabit the site. Whitetip reef sharks and turtles are occasionally encountered. The starboard wing extends to the deeper end of the site at around 21 m, while the main fuselage sits shallower. Buoyancy control is important in the confined fuselage sections.
Conditions
- Best season: Year-round; May–October for best visibility
- Visibility: 20–25 m typical
- Current: Very mild in lagoon setting
- Water temperature: 27–28°C
- Entry: Boat dive; site marked by buoy
Tips
A torch is useful for exploring the cockpit and fuselage interior. Operators in Papeete and Punaauia run this site as part of combination wreck dives including the adjacent cargo schooner. The site is accessible to Open Water-certified divers. Note: wreck penetration of the interior compartments requires appropriate training and equipment — confined spaces with overhead environment should not be entered without proper preparation.
Sources: SV Delos - Wreck Diving Tahiti, Dive and Sea Tahiti - Dive Sites, Hacking Family - Diving Tahiti. Last updated 2026-05-30.
Sea-surface temperature and wave height from Open-Meteo Marine (ERA5 reanalysis, monthly averages).
1902 verified species observations (315 species) logged within ~11 km of this site between 1899 and 2025, from the Ocean Biodiversity Information System.
- Megaptera novaeangliae · Humpback whale
- Naso unicornis
- Parupeneus multifasciatus
- Scarus psittacus
- Acanthurus xanthopterus
- Balistapus undulatus
- Centropyge flavissima
- Parupeneus barberinus
- Gygis alba microrhyncha
- Chlorurus sordidus
- Lutjanus fulvus
- Thalassoma hardwicke
Scientific survey records skew toward sampled taxa (molluscs, corals) and do not reflect what you are guaranteed to see on a dive.
Source: OBIS (obis.org), aggregated Darwin Core occurrence records.
Conditions change with the tide and the season. If you have dived this site, share what it was actually like — date, visibility, current, and what you saw. Real, recent reports from divers are exactly what this guide is built to collect.
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