Million Dollar Point and SS President Coolidge

Espiritu Santo was an enormous Allied base in the Second World War, and when the forces left, two remarkable things were left behind. At Million Dollar Point, vast quantities of vehicles, bulldozers, cranes and supplies were pushed into the sea after a sale fell through, and the tangle now lies in shallow water snorkellable from the beach. A short distance away, the SS President Coolidge - a luxury liner converted to a troopship - struck mines in 1942 and sank close to shore, and is now one of the world's most accessible large wreck dives, penetrable and enormous, resting between twenty and seventy metres.

The landscape

• Million Dollar Point - machinery and vehicles in shallow water, snorkellable.
• The SS President Coolidge - the huge wreck reachable from shore.
• The Lady statue - the ceramic relief inside the Coolidge, a diver's landmark.
• Luganville's wartime remains - quonset huts and airstrips around town.

When to go

Diving runs year round with best visibility in the dry season from April to October. Cyclone season is roughly November to April. The Coolidge is a shore dive, so conditions rarely stop it entirely.

What to expect

The Coolidge is a deep, large wreck and penetration dives require appropriate certification and often nitrox - operators are strict about this for good reason, and several divers have died here over the decades. Million Dollar Point is snorkellable but the metal is sharp and rusted; gloves and care matter. Luganville itself is a functional town rather than a resort. Respect the wreck as a war grave.

Nearby

Santo's blue holes, Champagne Beach and Luganville town.