Bearn

The Bearn was a French passenger steamer of Messageries Maritimes, the last of a series of four paddle-wheel packet ships built for the South America line, together with the Guienne, the Navarre and the Estramadure. The other steamers of the series had a square stern, but the Bearn's was round. She was serving the Bordeaux – Rio de Janeiro – La Plata line when, on 27/02/1865, probably due to a navigation error, she struck the reefs of Ponta dos Castelhanos, 300 m from Praia dos Castelhanos, on Ilha de Boipeba. Everyone on board was rescued.

Many believe this wreck to be a Spanish ship almost 500 years old, the Madre de Dios, but it is in fact the French steamer. On the bottom lie large circular formations covered in coral, which are the steamer's side paddle wheels, and comparing them with the model of the Guienne, her twin sister, confirmed the wreck's identity. On the reef there is also a huge anchor, with one fluke caught in the coral and the other pointing towards the surface. The Guienne was converted to propeller drive, renamed Gambie and sank off the north coast of Salvador in 1873, eight years after the Bearn. Some records placed the wreck "near Hanos, Brazil", a likely transcription error that dropped the "Castel" from Castelhanos.

At low or ebbing tide, the nearby river mouth tends to darken the water and hamper diving, so it is usually better to dive at high tide.