HMS HECTOR

Protected Area

Muthurajawela

Why dive here

With 89+ marine species recorded in the area - including whitetip reef sharks, lionfish and napoleon wrasse - HMS HECTOR offers some of Kalpitiya & Northwest's richest wreck diving.

Marine lifeWhitetip Reef Sharks, Lionfish and Napoleon Wrasse · 89+ species recorded

CharacterWreck dive · max 9m

The HMS Hector isn’t your typical deep, dark wreck. Instead, we’re talking about a merchant cruiser, repurposed for war, that met a fiery end during a Japanese air raid in 1942. What’s left now sits in a mere 9 metres of water, offering a surprisingly vivid experience for such a shallow site. We love the Hector for its accessibility. It’s perfect for divers who appreciate history without needing extreme depth. You can spend a whole dive exploring the various sections, with light filtering down to illuminate the structure. The ship's bow and stern are still distinct, and we’ve found the mid-section offers some great swim-throughs where the superstructure has collapsed. The marine life here is fantastic. We’ve drifted past schools of snapper so dense they hide the wreck, and lionfish often lurk in the shadowed nooks. Keep an eye out for moray eels poking their heads from pipes and crevices. Visibility can vary, but generally, it’s good, especially if you get there before the afternoon winds pick up. It's a proper historical dive without the advanced certs, and for us, that’s a real winner.