Numidia
A Glasgow-built steamer draped down the wall of an offshore island, from ten metres to beyond eighty. One of the great coral-encrusted wrecks anywhere, and unreachable except by liveaboard.
- Built
- Built 1901 by D. & W. Henderson, Glasgow
- Lost
- 20 July 1901 — Ran onto the northern tip of Big Brother Island on her sixth voyage
- Ship
- British cargo steamer, 137m
- Depth
- 10–80m and beyond
- Diving it
- Liveaboard only — the Brothers are 60km offshore and closed to day boats
What happened
The Numidia was six months old and on her sixth voyage, running from Liverpool to Calcutta with a general cargo that famously included railway wheels, when she ran straight onto the northern point of Big Brother at full speed in July 1901.
The crew got off. Salvage attempts over the following weeks failed, and by autumn she had slid off the shelf and down the wall — which is where she remains, bow shallow and stern disappearing into the blue.
A century of nutrient-rich current on an exposed offshore pinnacle has done something remarkable to her. The hull is not so much colonised as buried in soft coral, and the wreck now works as reef structure that happens to be ship-shaped.
What is down there
- The bow section in ten metres, then a wall of wreckage running down past sport-diving depth
- The famous railway wheels, still stacked in the cargo
- Coral growth as dense as anywhere in the Red Sea, because the site is fed by permanent current
- Grey reef and oceanic whitetip sharks, thresher sharks in season, and the pelagic traffic the Brothers are known for
Conditions
- Permanent and sometimes fierce current — this is a drift along a wall, not a wreck pottering dive
- Offshore, exposed, and weather-dependent; crossings are cancelled in wind
- Best May to July and September to November
What to watch out for
- The wreck runs deeper than any recreational limit and the wall keeps going. It is very easy to follow the structure past your plan.
- The Brothers are a protected marine park with strict rules and no facilities. The nearest chamber is hours away.
Is it worth it?
Yes, if you are already going to the Brothers — and the Brothers are worth going to. It is the only wreck on this list where the coral, not the ship, is the reason to dive it.
This is planning and history, not a dive briefing. Conditions change; your guide on the day is the authority. Diving emergency numbers and the coast’s recompression chambers are on our emergency contacts page.
Also in this bay — Big Brother Island (liveaboard)
No day boat reaches this one. It is a liveaboard site — the routes that go there.