Naufrágio Rio Negro

In 1885, the steamer Rio Negro passed to the Companhia Nacional de Navegação a Vapor do Rio de Janeiro and was refitted, receiving two double-expansion steam engines that drove two propellers. The tug Commandante Alvim was sent to the site; part of the cargo was thrown overboard and another part was transferred to a pontoon brought by the tug. The tug took 29 first-class and 31 third-class passengers to Santos. A passenger who had already boarded ill in Paraná died.

Today the wreck is broken up, with remains of the frames and twisted iron scattered among the rocks. It lies in front of a fractured rock, perpendicular to the rocky shore. You can still see the remains of two three-furnace boilers and the two double-expansion engines fallen from their mounts, with two large shafts running in line to the stern. The stern is the most intact part, lying on its port side and dominated by the large rudder, still aligned with the hull. The wreck ends at the stern on a large rectangular rock slab, and that is where starting the dive is recommended. The ironwork has become an artificial reef with many fish, brain corals and even turtles. The Tocantins wreck lies about 50 metres from the Rio Negro.

On the boat trip to Queimada Grande it is common to see Bryde's whales and groups of dolphins. At Ilha da Queimada Grande, diving tends to be best from November to July. The water averages around 22 °C over the year and can reach 27 °C between mid-January and the arrival of autumn, but at the start of summer very cold thermoclines sometimes occur.