Diving the Helldiver Plane Wreck in Maui

Wreck of the Helldiver: Maui

    The wreck of a WWII plane sits on the sandy ocean bottom about 50ft below the surface. This wreck was only discovered a few years ago by scuba divers, although fishermen had known the location for decades as a popular fish hideout. The plane is a Curtis Helldiver SB2C-1C model, with three props and a canon in each wing.

  The history of this particular plane took some searching for the original divers who took the first photos of the wreck. They were able to track it down to a prolific pilot named Lieut. William E. Dill who was part of the US Navy Reserve. He later crashed or was shot down during the battle of Leyte Gulf in the Philippines but survived. Records no longer show what eventually happened to him. There is a great backstory of this plane researched here by the first diver to find it.

  The wreck is located just offshore in windy Ma'alaea Bay on Maui's south shore. It is surrounded by sand so acts as a magnet for sea life. We found nudibranchs, big schools of blue striped snapper, a large yellow margin moray eel, and a huge octopus all calling the wreck home.

   It is always surreal to find these big wrecks laying at the bottom of the ocean. I love diving wrecks since they are such a different site and they also provide a rare photographic opportunity. There is another plane wreck on Oahu that is also worth checking out called the Corsair. You can take a look at my dive on that plane wreck here: Diving the Corsair.