MV Mars (Wreck) - Andaman Islands
The MV Mars isn’t the kind of wreck that makes headlines, but for new wreck divers, or those who just love a good story, we think it’s pretty special. Resting upright at a gentle 16 meters, this cargo ship went down in the 80s, overloaded with construction materials. You can still see the rebar and cement bags scattered around the seabed, a ghostly cargo frozen in time. What we love about the Mars is how accessible it is. You can practically fin the entire length in one breath. Penetration isn’t really on the cards here, but the open cargo holds are easy to peek into, and sunlight streams through the various openings, illuminating the schools of glassfish that shimmer inside. Look closely, and you’ll spot crocodilefish camouflaged on the deck, and we've regularly seen moray eels peering out from beneath collapsed sections. The bow is our favourite spot; it’s largely intact and often hosts a resident school of batfish. It’s a shallow, calm dive, ideal for getting comfortable finning around something man-made and discovering the marine life that now calls it home.
- Location
- Andaman Islands, India, Indian Ocean & East Africa
- Coordinates
- 12.071100, 92.957600
- Type
- wreck
- Maximum Depth
- 16m
- Difficulty
- Beginner
Nearby Dive Sites in Andaman Islands
- Anchor Point - 9m (reef)
- Anthony’s Reef - 28m (reef)
- Aquarium - 12m (reef)
- Aquarium - Neil - 11m (reef)
- Barren Island - 25m (reef)
- Broken Ledge - 24m
- Bus Stop - 19m
- Busy Buro - 20m
- Campbell Shoal - 22m (pinnacle)
- Channel 62 - 18m (drift)
- Dicksons Pinnacle - 28m (pinnacle)
- Dixon's
- Duncan's Wreck (wreck)
- Eco Diver - 8m
- Fish Slate - 10m (reef)
Nearest Dive Centres to MV Mars (Wreck)
- Barefoot Scuba - ["PADI"]
- Continental Scuba - SSI
- Dive India
- DIVEIndia - PADI, SSI
- India Scuba Explorers
- Lacadives at Havelock - ["PADI"]
Marine Life in Andaman Islands
Home to 191 recorded species including 111 reef fish, 41 hard corals, 9 seagrass & algae, 7 sea snails & nudibranchs, 5 whales & dolphins, 5 sea cucumbers.
Notable Species
- Atlantic Mudskipper (Periophthalmus barbarus) - Reef Fish
- Stony coral (Echinopora lamellosa) - Hard Corals
- Savigny's Brittle Star (Ophiactis savignyi)
- Black-lined Blenny (Istiblennius lineatus) - Reef Fish
- Flathead Sleeper (Ophiocara porocephala) - Reef Fish
- Blue Panchax (Aplocheilus panchax) - Reef Fish
- Sea lettuce (Ulva lactuca) - Seagrass & Algae
- Puntang Goby (Exyrias puntang) - Reef Fish
- killer alga (Caulerpa taxifolia) - Seagrass & Algae
- Long-spined sea urchin (Diadema setosum) - Sea Urchins
- Honeycomb coral (Favites abdita) - Hard Corals
- Celebes Goby (Glossogobius celebius) - Reef Fish
- Brown Spinecheek Gudgeon (Eleotris fusca) - Reef Fish
- Pufferfish (Arothron hispidus) - Reef Fish
- Sperm Whale (Physeter macrocephalus) - Whales & Dolphins
- Wrasse (Thalassoma lunare) - Reef Fish
- Big-eye trevally (Caranx sexfasciatus) - Reef Fish
- Humpbacked conch (Gibberulus gibberulus) - Sea Snails & Nudibranchs
- Giant trevally (Caranx ignobilis) - Reef Fish
- Bottleneck Sea Cucumber (Holothuria (Thymiosycia) impatiens) - Sea Cucumbers