Sebuku Island SCUBA Dive Sites

Sebuku is located a small distance away from Sebesi in the northern direction. The island is also a volcanic island like Sebesi, albeit older. It is formed of andesitic lava spurted out by a volcano that was active about 2-3 millions years ago in the Pliocene era before it went extinct. A fringing reef has since grown around the island, producing its idyllic white sandy beaches strewn with some volcanic rock boulders. It is smaller than its neighbour Sebesi, and uninhabited. The highest peak is 356m above sea level and is covered by vegetation regrowing after the 1883 Krakatau explosion. The dive highlight of Sebuku is the wreck of a Dutch destroyer Evertsen, perished in the sea battle with Japanese destroyers on 1 March 1942, just days before the Netherlands Indies government (the Dutch colonial government in Indonesia) capitulated to the Japanese General Imamura. The destroyer was following the two Allied cruisers HMAS Perth and USS Houston which were attempting to escape through the Sunda Strait when they encountered a large Japanese fleet. Lagging way behind the larger battleships, Evertsen witnessed the sinking of HMAS Perth and USS Houston near Banten bay. While attempting to escape by sailing near the coasts of Sumatra Evertsen was spotted by Japanese destroyers and was torpedoed. The captain decided to beach the ship in the shores of Sebuku, and here she lies now, in the very shallow water of the Sebuku island. A small part of the wreck protrudes above the water; the rest is underwater with the stern rests at a depth of 16 meters in the very gently sloping sandy-silty bottom. The wreck is mostly disintegrated and overgrown with corals although we can still make out the long narrow hull, some pipes and chambers. The dive is easy since it is very shallow with almost no current and very minimal surge. However an inexperienced diver could cause disturbance in the sandy-silty bottom, making the already low visibility lower still. The marine life consists mostly of corals and small reef fish. Some moray eels and lobsters have been sighted. The shallow part has a healthy growth of hard corals, soft corals and hydroids.