Trimix Hits the Coolidge

As published on www.trimixdivers.com

The SS President Coolidge. As one of the top wreck dives in the world, it’s like nothing you’ve ever seen before, starting in 20 metres of warm, calm, tropical waters and extending down a slope 200 metres to its maximum depth of 70 metres.

Most divers who have explored the Coolidge have traveled the beaten path. The very impressive Promenade Deck at 36m, the stunning ceramic statue of The Lady at 40m, the intact Engine Room at 50m where you can still read the telegraphs with the captain’s final command before the ship sank. But few divers have really explored the deeper end of the wreck…until now.

Nearly one-third of the SS President Coolidge rests below 55 meters. With the effects of nitrogen narcosis and the risk of seizure from oxygen toxicity at depth, that has left a great deal of the wreck still to be explored. But for divers who have long hoped for the day when they could more freely explore the deep end of the Coolidge, Aquamarine has answered their diving prayers.

For tec divers and Trimix divers, thanks to Aquamarine, the deep end of the SS President Coolidge is officially open.

With the arrival of helium in Vanuatu, Aquamarine has opened the doors to Trimix diving on the Coolidge. Even better than that, Aquamarine is offering Entry Level Trimix and Advanced Trimix courses on the Coolidge - in addition to the Decompression Procedures and Extended Range courses already on offer. And when it comes to tec and trimix diving, it’s hard to imagine a better place or a better training ground than the SS President Coolidge.

The Coolidge is located just 15 minutes from local accommodations and is easily accessible by either boat or shore. It’s also one of the few places in the world where diving to depths over 60 metres is available all year round. The warm, tropical waters of Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu allow Aquamarine to hit the Coolidge every single day.

You’re also nearly guaranteed to have an excellent dive. Swimming beyond 55 metres, you are hit with an adrenaline rush as you realize just how big this wreck really is and everything at the deep end just seems bigger and better. There are 5 inch guns, ambulances, anti-tank guns…and a few metres off the stern, resting on the sand in 72 metres, is the frame of one of the Coolidge life boats. According to Jason Blackwell of Dive Dive Dive in Queensland, “To explore the stern and rear cargo sections of the Coolidge on Trimix is superb. Many people have been there on air and they will tell you that it is no more interesting than the shallower part of the wreck. Well I have news for them, narcosis obviously was really affecting them!”

Dr. Richard “Harry” Harris is also a keen explorer of the deep side of the Coolidge. Originally from Adelaide, Dr. Harry is now working as the Doctor of Anesthesia and Diving Medicine at Vila Hospital in Vanuatu and he makes frequent trips to Santo to explore the deep end of the Coolidge. “Barry Holland, (Managing Director of Aquamarine and a TDI Instructor Trainer) has become an invaluable partner in my quest to explore and photograph the stern area of the Coolidge. His knowledge of the ship is unsurpassed and his passion for technical diving makes Aquamarine the logical operator for anyone planning tec diving on the Coolidge,” raves Harry.

Swimming beyond 55 metres, you are hit with an adrenaline rush as you realize just how big this wreck really is and everything at the deep end just seems bigger and better.

Perhaps even better news for Trimix divers is the opportunity to spend most of their diving holiday on the deep end of the wreck. In the past, even tec divers had to work their way down the wreck, gradually getting deeper each day and finally hitting the deep stuff just as they were finishing their holiday. But Aquamarine asks that Trimix divers make just one or two dives to 30-40 metres to sort out their gear and then welcomes them to the stern and beyond within the second day of their holiday.

For tec and Trimix divers, thanks to Aquamarine, the deep end of the SS President Coolidge is officially open.