History

A common question we hear is; "Why are there so many old shipwrecks near Monte Cristi, Dominican Republic?"

Here is a brief explanation:

In 1492, Christoper Columbus sailed along the north shore of what is today known as Haiti on his ship the Santa Maria. His ship became hopelessly grounded on a reef and since he was unable to free it, he dismantled the ship and from its materials, built what was known as "Fort Christmas".

Afterwards Columbus continued sailing along the coast of Hispaniola on another ship, arrived in the bay of Monte Cristi and camped on the island known today as "Goat Island", though he named it "Little Paul Caye" ("Cayo Pablito").

After spending the night on the island, Columbus came to shore to investigate the mountain known today as "El Morro" near the island. Looking down into the valley, he named the area "Monte Cristi" (Christ's Mountain) since it reminded him of the mount where Jesus Christ died.

When he looked back at the ocean from this vantage point, he could discern the coral barrier that protects the northern coast of the island and issued a stern warning: "Anyone sailing through the waters of Monte Cristi without knowing the reef locations will be sunk."

Afterwards, Columbus made a navigational chart outlining a safe passage through the Monte Cristi reefs, which every ship coming through this part of the "New World" would follow.

Pirates soon made Monte Cristi a base of operations, since they knew the exact route the hundreds of merchant ships would take when passing by the island.

Thus, due to the unforgiving reef system, and the ruthless pirates, many ships made their final voyage in the waters off the coast of Monte Cristi.

How many wrecks are out there? We do not know, but we estimate that there are hundreds. We are now inviting adventurous amateur scuba divers to join us in our goal of identifying many of these wrecks.