Cabo de Palos, Murcia, Spain

Sirio Wreck

The Sirio was an Italian transatlantic liner that struck the Hormigas Islands rocks in August 1906 in one of the worst maritime tragedies of early-twentieth-century Spain, with hundreds of emigrants on board bound for South America. The wreck broke and slid down the slope and the main pieces now rest between 45 and 60 metres on a sand and rubble bottom inside the Cabo de Palos reserve. The site is a deep technical dive on the boundary of recreational limits and remains a working memorial to the disaster. The hull is broken but recognisable and densely colonised after a century of Mediterranean life: encrusting sponges, golden cup coral, gorgonia and dense cardinalfish curtains on the structure. Resident dusky groupers and conger eels live inside the broken sections, and pelagic species including barracuda, amberjack and bluefish are common above. Diving the Sirio requires advanced technical training, careful gas planning and respect for the war grave nature of the site.