Anna Bianca Wreck - Sardinia
The Anna Bianca. Now there’s a proper dive. We love a good wreck with a bit of history, and this one delivers. Lying at around 20-22 metres, it’s a relatively easy dive, open to most certified divers. What makes it special isn’t just the intact bow, still recognisable, or the engine room you can safely peek into, but the sheer volume of life that’s colonised every surface. We’ve seen immense schools of barracuda circling the stern on more than one occasion, their silver scales flashing in the shafts of light filtering down. Inside the superstructure, you’ll often find large groupers hunkered down, just watching you pass, and the deck is thick with yellow gorgonians and vibrant sponges. It’s got that slightly spooky, almost ghostly feel as you swim through the cargo holds, but it’s entirely safe and quite open. Our favourite time to dive it is late afternoon; the light really brings out the colours of the corals and the rust. If you're looking for a wreck that feels alive, not just a pile of metal, this is your spot.
- Location
- Sardinia, Italy, Mediterranean & Europe
- Coordinates
- 42.250534, 11.095398
- Type
- wreck
Wreck History - Anna Bianca Wreck
- Year Sunk
- 1971
- Vessel Type
- cargo ship
- Cause
- storm
The M/V Anna Bianca was an Italian cargo ship whose final voyage came to an abrupt end on March 2, 1971. While transporting a heavy load of pumice stone from Genoa to Cagliari, she was caught in a violent storm off the southeastern coast of Sardinia. The relentless seas proved too much for the vessel, and she foundered and sank near the island of Serpentara, within the protected waters of the Capo Carbonara Marine Area.
Today, the Anna Bianca is a classic Sardinian wreck dive, but one reserved for experienced divers due to its depth. The wreck lies broken in two distinct sections on a sandy seabed. The bow rests upright at a depth of around 40 meters, while the stern section sits deeper, sloping from 45 down to 52 meters. The powerful storm that sank her is evident in the scattered debris field between the two halves. Divers can explore the ship's cargo holds, superstructure, and propeller, all of which are now colonized by a rich array of marine life, including large groupers, moray eels, and schools of damselfish.
Marine Protected Area: Isola di Giannutri - area terrestre e marina
Nearby Dive Sites in Sardinia
- ACHAIKA HOPE - 25m (wreck)
- ADELCONCITA - 35m (wreck)
- AGELIKA - 5m (wreck)
- ALI REIS V - 2m (wreck)
- Allume
- Ancore Spagnole - 23m
- Angelika MS (wreck)
- Archeo Diving
- Balena - 20m
- Biancas Garden (reef)
- BUCADOR (PROBABLY) - 10m (wreck)
- Cala Cupa
- Cala dell Oro
- Cala di Trana
- Cala d'Oliva
Nearest Dive Centres to Anna Bianca Wreck
Marine Life in Sardinia
Home to 86 recorded species including 38 reef fish, 9 seagrass & algae, 8 whales & dolphins, 6 sharks & rays, 5 hard corals, 4 other.
Notable Species
- Mediterranean tapeweed (Posidonia oceanica) - Seagrass & Algae
- Blue-white Dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba) - Whales & Dolphins
- Cowfish (Tursiops truncatus) - Whales & Dolphins
- Red coral (Corallium rubrum) - Soft Corals
- Scarlet Coral (Balanophyllia (Balanophyllia) europaea) - Hard Corals
- Bushy Coral (Cladocora caespitosa) - Hard Corals
- loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta)
- Moonfish (Mola mola) - Reef Fish
- mauve stinger (Pelagia noctiluca) - Jellyfish
- Razorback (Balaenoptera physalus) - Whales & Dolphins
- Sunset cup coral (Leptopsammia pruvoti) - Hard Corals
- Wrasse (Coris julis) - Reef Fish
- Ornate Wrasse (Thalassoma pavo) - Reef Fish
- Devil fish (Mobula mobular) - Sharks & Rays
- Painted Comber (Serranus scriba) - Reef Fish
- Common Spiny Lobster (Palinurus elephas) - Crabs & Lobsters
- Salema (Sarpa salpa) - Reef Fish
- Garrupa (Serranus cabrilla) - Reef Fish
- Damsel fish (Chromis chromis) - Reef Fish
- Dusky grouper (Epinephelus marginatus) - Reef Fish