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Diving at Great Basses & Little Basses Reefs off Kirinda |
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The reefs of Great Basses and Little Basses provide some of the best diving (or
snorkelling) Sri Lanka can offer. The rocky outcrops of the Great and Little
Basses are surrounded by sandstone reefs carved into strange formations by time
and tide. Several shipwrecks are to be found here.
The famous Arthur C Clarke based his book ‘The Treasure of the Reef’ on his
dives of the Basses reefs. On the 22nd of March 1961, together with his diving
partner, filmmaker Mike Wilson, he discovered the wreck of a 24 gun ship which
belonged to the Mogul Emperor Aurangzeb (1658 – 1707), which was sent to trade
in the Far East but was sunk in a storm off the Great Basses. Inside they
discovered thousands of silver Rupees, all dated 1702.
A particularly unique feature of the Great Basses is the light-house that was
actually constructed on the reef. It was designed and built by Sir J.N.
Douglass, the engineer of Trinity House. The lighthouse went into operation on
March 10th 1873, and was occupied and kept in operation until the Tsunami of
December 2004. Although the lighthouse still stands proud, nowadays only a small
solar powered light switches on at night. The main lights, which have kept ships
at bay for more than a hundred years, now lay silent.
Even with all this amazing history, it is to see the myriad fish and occasional
marine mammals that most divers go to the Basses. Porpoises, harmless Gray
sharks, Tuna, Angelfishes, Groupers, Giant Maori Wrasses (Napoleons), Snappers,
Rays and many others denizens of the ocean can be seen here.
The Great Basses and Little Basses reefs can be reached from Kirinda by a 45
minute boat ride. Unfortunately, the ocean is often rough and the currents very
strong. As a result only around 50 days per year are available for diving, from
early March to mid-April.
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