Jake Seaplane
Depth is the range from the top of the site to its usual maximum; "recommended cert" is the mainstream-agency level operators usually ask for, not a legal rule. Currents and visibility change daily, so treat everything here as planning ranges.
A Japanese Aichi E13A reconnaissance floatplane (Allied code name Jake) rests on a gentle slope near Koror, remarkably whole for an aircraft eighty years underwater. The three-seat fuselage, wings, and engine sit upright; the cowling has slumped to show the radial engine's cylinders, and props curl where they met the water. It photographs beautifully in ambient light at this depth, and because the dive is shallow and calm, there is time to circle slowly and take in the details: cockpit frames, float struts, coral colonizing the wing roots. A gentle, thoughtful dive rather than a dramatic one.
The moment you come for: An intact WWII floatplane at leisure-dive depth; the exposed radial engine; easy conditions for long, slow photography.
Topography: Sloping coral and sand at about 15 m
Current: Sheltered lagoon water; occasional light drift.
Entry: Short run from Koror; often paired with Chandelier Cave as a half-day.
Know before you splash
Hazards: Few; mind buoyancy over the silt and give other groups room on this small site.
Conservation: Do not sit or hang on the airframe: aluminum this old bends under a diver's weight.
Who you'll meet
Nudibranchs
Common Reef (Day) Octopus
Lionfish
Mandarinfish
Clownfish & Anemonefish
Crown-of-Thorns Starfish
Napoleon (Humphead) Wrasse
Giant Moray Eel
Also recorded nearby
"Charted here" species were listed by our editors from the sources on this page. Counts are GBIF occurrence records: observations logged within about 5 km of the charted position since 1990, matched only against the species in our catalogue. They show what has been seen there, not a promise of what you will see.
For photographers
Wide angle: ★★★★☆ · Macro: ★★★☆☆ (editors' 1–5 rating of what this site gives each style of shooting)