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Fang Ming Wreck — illustrative image

Fang Ming Wreck

Wreck 12–21 m Intermediate Sea of Cortez & Cabo Pulmo, Mexico
AI-generated illustration
Documented
Depth
12–21 m / 39–69 ft
Typical depth
18 m / 59 ft
Visibility
8–20 m / 26–66 ft
Water
19–29 °C / 66–84 °F
Current
Mild
Access
Boat
Best months
Aug–Nov
Recommended cert
Open Water for the exterior; wreck training for penetration

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 — treat everything here as planning ranges.

The Fang Ming came to La Paz in disgrace - a Chinese-flagged vessel seized by Mexican authorities in the 1990s for smuggling migrants - and was scuttled in 1999 as an artificial reef, an early project of its kind in these waters. Sitting upright on sand at around 21 m with her rails and holds in easy reach, she has grown a fur of cup corals and sponges and collected a devoted population: green turtles genuinely do nap inside the open holds and companionways, angelfish patrol the rails, and schools of grunt hang over the deck. Openings cut for divers make supervised swim-throughs straightforward for the trained. It is La Paz's easy, charming wreck dive.

The moment you come for: Turtles asleep inside the holds, cup-coral bloom on the rails, gentle first-wreck profile

Topography: Steel hull upright on sand near Espiritu Santo

This site is a charted wreck Fang Ming — Confiscated Chinese cargo vessel, sunk 1999. Full wreck history and dive guide →

Know before you splash

Hazards: Silt inside the hull, sharp encrusted edges, mild current over the deck.

Conservation: Lies within the La Paz-area protected waters; take nothing and touch nothing - the growth is the point.

Nitrox: Worth it here — profiles sit in the range where enriched air meaningfully extends no-stop time (with the training to use it).

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