Buoy #6

Distance from Koror: 2 miles (3.5 km), 5 minutes by speedboat.

Level of Diving Experience: Advanced, wreck diver. This dive requires careful planning. It offers excellent photographic opportunities.

Diving Depth Summary: The wreck, a small fishing vessel is resting upright near marker #6 at 80 feet (27 m). Deck is 65 feet (21 m) deep. The hull is perpendicular to southwest slope and the bow is pointing to the northeast.

Visibility: Diving should be done at slack tide; the visibility you will experience during slack water (high tide) is usually good. If you attempt to dive the wreck during low tide visibility can be poor. 

General Formation: This 100 foot (33 m) long vessel known as Buoy #6 wreck (original name is unknown) is an old World War II Sub chaser. From 1941 onward some 200 auxiliary submarine chasers of this class were built. Diving on this wreck should only be attempted during slack tide, as the currents in the channel can be very swift. Your dive boat will be anchored close to channel marker #6 at 10 feet (3 m) of water. Swimming down the slope you will see the stern of the wreck with its corroded rudder. The wreck is overgrown with hard and soft corals and is home to many tropical fish. Usually the dive will start shortly before slack tide, if the current is still running find shelter on the leeward side of the wreck. The wreck was partially salvaged after the war and is deteriorating fast, some of the hull’s plates have fallen. Built with the engine amidships two sections of superstructure can be seen. A circular gun platform is mounted on the bow but the gun is missing. When you leave the wreck on your way up, it is important to swim back to the stern section and from there to the southwest slope (you can see the slope from the stern). Malakal Channel is a busy waterway and you should not ascend in the middle of the channel. 

Reef Formation: Malakal Channel, east of Koror is one of two main channels that cut through the barrier reef and lead into the lagoon (the other one is West Passage). The channel slopes down from 10 feet (3 m) (corals) to 70-80 feet (21-24 m) (sandy bottom). A large variety of healthy corals can be found on both slopes including massive Gorgorian fans. Clusters of Black Sun Coral (Tubastraea Micrantha) decorate the sandy bottom around the wreck.