KUSUYAMA MARU - Kenting National Park
The Kusuyama Maru is a serious dive for experienced wreck lovers, and we mean serious. Dropping 51 metres to her deck, this 125-metre steamship makes for an imposing sight, especially when the current picks up. She’s a grand old lady, built in 1919, eventually torpedoed by a US submarine in 1943. We love exploring the huge, accessible holds, often finding schools of jacks swirling inside, and the triple expansion engine is still remarkably intact. There’s a beautiful soft coral growth on the bow, a riot of purples and yellows against the dark steel, where we've spotted everything from lionfish to morays tucked into crevices. This isn't a dive for the casual tourist; strong down currents can be an issue, so good air consumption and comfort at depth are essential. Our favourite time to visit is early morning, just after sunrise, before the winds pick up.
- Location
- Kenting National Park, Taiwan, East Asia
- Coordinates
- 22.666666, 119.208336
- Type
- wreck
- Maximum Depth
- 51m
Nearby Dive Sites in Kenting National Park
- ANGEL - 50m (wreck)
- ASIAN MARINER - 36m (wreck)
- Banana Bay (reef)
- Beauty Hole
- Ceasars Rock
- Chia Ming - 1m (wreck)
- CHIEN-NAN NO 10 - 34m (wreck)
- CHIN HUNG - 35m (wreck)
- Feed Fish Area
- FV LIEN CHUN FA NO.6 - 28m (wreck)
- GOOD UNION (POSSIBLY). - 19m (wreck)
- HAI AN (POSSIBLY) - 15m (wreck)
- HM FOUNDATION - 0m (wreck)
- Hojie
- Hong-Chai
Nearest Dive Centres to KUSUYAMA MARU
- A Whale Man - SSI
- Azure Journey Dive - SSI
- CJ Bluebay Dive Resort - ["PADI"]
- Dive New World Center - ["PADI"]
- Drifters’ Diving Club
- Enjoy Islands Diving Center - ["PADI"]
Marine Life in Kenting National Park
Home to 546 recorded species including 442 reef fish, 75 hard corals, 9 sharks & rays, 6 sea cucumbers, 5 sea snails & nudibranchs, 3 other.
Notable Species
- Giant trevally (Caranx ignobilis) - Reef Fish
- Common Ponyfish (Leiognathus equula) - Reef Fish
- Malabar grouper (Epinephelus malabaricus) - Reef Fish
- Estuary Cod (Epinephelus coioides) - Reef Fish
- Fluorescence grass coral (Galaxea fascicularis) - Hard Corals
- Honeycomb coral (Favites abdita) - Hard Corals
- Lesser valley coral (Platygyra lamellina) - Hard Corals
- Montipora coral (Montipora venosa) - Hard Corals
- Coral Blenny (Istiblennius edentulus) - Reef Fish
- Closed brain coral (Leptoria phrygia) - Hard Corals
- Black-lined Blenny (Istiblennius lineatus) - Reef Fish
- Brain coral (Platygyra daedalea) - Hard Corals
- Lesser star coral (Cyphastrea microphthalma) - Hard Corals
- Cauliflower coral (Pocillopora verrucosa) - Hard Corals
- Brain coral (Platygyra sinensis) - Hard Corals
- Spine coral (Hydnophora exesa) - Hard Corals
- Stony coral (Porites lutea) - Hard Corals
- Larger star coral (Favites pentagona) - Hard Corals
- Starflower coral (Astreopora myriophthalma) - Hard Corals
- Encrusting pore coral (Montipora aequituberculata) - Hard Corals