Diving in Puerto Morelos
C-56 Wreck

Launched in 1943 by the American Ship Building Company of Lorain, Ohio, the then USS Knave (AM-256) was an admirable class minesweeper built for the US Navy during World War II. She served in the Atlantic during WWII and was decommissioned in 1946. In 1962 she was sold to the Mexican Navy and in 1994 she was renamed ARM Cadete Juan Escutia (C-56).

In October 2000, the C-56 was purposefully sunk off the coast of Puerto Morelos by the Mexican Government as a new attraction for divers coming to the Riviera Maya.

The C-56 is laying perfectly upright, with the keel on the sand at 27m/90ft, the 56m/184ft long Mexican Gun Boat was quickly inhabited by various marine life. The deck, at 19m/64ft, is teeming with life and it’s common to see a large shoal of Bigeye Trevallies (a.k.a. Bigeye Jack) hunting there. As we travel around the wreck we commonly see large Wrasse, Groupers, Morays and Spotted Eagle Rays. Soft corals have colonized the wreck and now offer a home to many arrow crabs and fire worms among other small crustaceans and invertebrates. And, close to the wheelhouse watch out for the resident barracuda!