The Million Dollar Point of Vanuatu
Located off the coast of Espírito Santo, an island belonging to the South Pacific nation of Vanuatu, is a vast undersea junkyard of military trucks, jeeps, bulldozers, tractors, unopened boxes of clothing and cases of Coca-Cola create. It’s called the Million Dollar Point, so named for the millions of dollars’ worth of US military
equipment that was dumped in the ocean at the end of the second world war.
Luganville - Vanuatu - Million Dollar Point
My second dive from this trip in Vanuatu. Million Dollar Point is a dive site where the American Forces dumped all of their equipment and supplies at the end of WWII.
Scuba Diving Million Dollar Point, Vanuatu (HD)
This massive underwater dump just off the coast of Espíritu Santo, an island in the Vanuatu archipelago of the South Western Pacific is called Million Dollar Point, after the millions of dollars worth of material disposed here, the dump is a popular diving destination, an amazing quantity of wreckage: jeeps, six-wheel drive trucks, bulldozers, semi-trailers, fork lifts, tractors, bound sheets of corrugated iron, unopened boxes of clothing, and cases of Coca-Cola.
The Americans during WWII had a base here to launch their attacks on the Japanese in the Pacific. On their departure from the island they left behind infrastructure like roads and runways, and even buildings, with army built Quonset huts still standing around Santo. The biggest legacy is Million Dollar Point, both historically fascinating, but environmentally destructive.
The Franco-British Condominium who ruled Vanuatu (then known as the New Hebrides) thought they had the Americans over a barrel as the time for their departure neared at the end of the war. The American bases were full of vehicles, furniture, clothing, food, drink and all that had been required to sustain the troops. A decision had been taken that this was not going to be repatriated, and that the Condominium could buy it all at rock bottom prices. Unfortunately the British and French got greedy, refusing an offer to pay 6 cents in the dollar for everything, thinking they would eventually get it for nothing.
The Americans not impressed with this came up with another option in a moment of madness. They took all the vehicles, food, clothing and other equipment to a wharf on the south side of Santo. The army drove the vehicles into the sea, and then used bulldozers to dump the rest over the end of the wharf, before they also were driven into the sea. Millions of dollars of goods were destroyed over a period of two days, contaminating the sea with fuel, rubber, metal and Coca Cola. What the locals would have thought watching this wasteful destruction would be hard to understand, although quite rightly they looted what they could when the Americans had left.
It’s an amazing dive and part of history; however, it’s difficult to think that someone decided to do this on an island where the beaches are breathtaking. Greed and politics…
Music:
Series 1 of 6 (Luganville, Vanuatu)
28 Dec 2014, Rhapsody of the Sea South Pacific Cruise, 11 Nights Cruise
Vanuatu. Million Dollar Point
Vanuatu. Snorkeling Million Dollar Point
The Scandal of Million Dollar Point
Travel writer Thurston Clarke describes the scene:
The Seabees built a ramp running into the sea and every day Americans drove trucks, jeeps, ambulances, bulldozers, and tractors into the channel, locking the wheels and jumping free at the last second. Engine blocks cracked and hissed. Some Seabees wept. Ni-Vanuatu witnessing the destruction of wealth their island would never see again, at least in their lifetimes, thought the Americans had gone mad.
Despite salvage efforts, the dumping ground remains visually astounding, a monument, as one diving website puts it, to the futility of war.
And why all this calculated waste? Because the British/French condominium government that ran the archipelago now known as Vanuatu could not afford the asking price for all this surplus military equipment at the end of WW2. So instead of donating it to get the island economy back on its feet the Americans deliberately, and spitefully, dumped it all in the sea.
Vanuatu at million dollar point
A historic place in Espiritu Santo during world war 2
The Million Dollar Point of Vanuatu – Around The World
Around The World: Located off the coast of Espírito Santo, an island belonging to the South Pacific nation of Vanuatu, is a vast undersea junkyard of military trucks, jeeps, bulldozers, tractors, unopened boxes of clothing and cases of Coca-Cola create. It’s called the Million Dollar Point, so named for the millions of dollars’ worth of US military equipment that was dumped in the ocean at the end of the second worldwar.
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SS President Coolidge, Vanuatu, Cargo Hold 1&2 and Million Dollar Point
One million dollar point,Vanuatu
One million dollar point,Vanuatu
SCUBA Diving : Million Dollar Point, Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu
SCUBA Diving Million Dollar Point, Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu.
Luganville, Vanuatu
Just a short view of Luganville, Vanuatu's second largest town. This shows the areas outside of the main street.
Try Dive at Million Dollar Point - Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu
Contact me if you'd like to experience some real adventures in Vanuatu: vanuatuchris@gmail.com
Prior to this try dive I had only ever snorkelled. Thanks to Mal of Santo Island Dive & Fishing I was convinced that doing a dive with them was the right thing to do, and indeed it was! Million Dollar Point is an awesome place to dive, there is lots of World War 2 machinery, vehicles and boats under the water and thousands of different fish have made it their home. There is so much more to see when you are diving as opposed to snorkelling and I felt safe the whole time as my diving buddy Mathew was always keeping an eye on me. This is possibly the highlight of my trip to Santo.
Million Dollar Point is located in Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu.
Перед тем, как я совершил свое первое дайвинг погружение, я занимался только подводным плаванием с трубкой и маской. Спасибо Мэлу из Santo Island Dive & Fishing, который уговорил меня, что это именно то, что мне нужно сделать, и это правда! Миллион Долларов - замечательное место для дайвинга: огромное количество военных машин, танков, лодок со Второй Мировой войны, и тысячи рыб, которые все это сделали своим домом. Дайвинг, конечно, куда интереснее и разнообразнее, чем подводное плавание. И даже, если это был мой первый опыт, я чувствовал себя в безопасности, так как инстуктор Мэттью постоянно за мной приглядывал. Это, пожалуй, мое самое яркое впечатление от путешествия на Эспириту-Санто, Вануату.
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Snorkeling in Vanuatu, Million Dollar Point on island of Espiritu Santo.
Just off the coast of Espírito Santo, an island in the Vanuatu archipelago of the South Western Pacific, there is a massive underwater dump. Called Million Dollar Point after the millions of dollars worth of material disposed there, the dump is a popular diving (and snorkeling) destination, and divers report an amazing quantity of wreckage: jeeps, six-wheel drive trucks, bulldozers, semi-trailers, fork lifts, tractors, bound sheets of corrugated iron, unopened boxes of clothing, and cases of Coca-Cola. The dumped goods were not abandoned by the native Vanuatu people, nor by the Franco-British Condominium who ruled Vanuatu (then known as the New Hebrides) from 1906 until 1980, but by personnel of a WWII American military base named Buttons. At the end of the war, sometime between August 1945 and December 1947, the US military interred supplies, equipment, and vehicles under water.
The travel writer Thurston Clarke describes the scene:
The Seabees built a ramp running into the sea and every day Americans drove trucks, jeeps, ambulances, bulldozers, and tractors into the channel, locking the wheels and jumping free at the last second. Engine blocks cracked and hissed. Some Seabees wept. Ni-Vanuatu witnessing the destruction of wealth their island would never see again, at least in their lifetimes, thought the Americans had gone mad.
More to read at
Fish Life on the USS President Coolidge & Million Dollar Point - Luganville, Vanuatu
A collection of clips shot while diving on the wreck of the USS President Coolidge & Million Dollar Point in August 2009
Diving a WW2 dump at Million Dollar Point, Vanuatu
A dive on Million Dollar Point while visiting Espiritu Santo in Vanuatu on the expedition vessel 'Infinity Expedition'.
During the second world war the island of Espiritu Santo was a large staging area for the US forces in the Pacific. As the war ended it was not economically feasible to return the equipment back to the US. Unable to reach an agreement with the local government in purchasing the surplus equipment, it was decided to dump it in the ocean.
Luganville santo
Passing by the market in the unity park
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Luganville Pacific War Remembered LBurrafato
Espiritu Santo--supply & support base in WWII. Narrated by Bruce M. Petty. Filmed by Leanardo Burrafato.
Santo; Scuba Diving Million Dollar Point
MIllion Dollar Point is a twilight zone for divers in Vanuatu, filled with trucks, cranes, forklifts, and heaps of other equipment, now covered in coral and algae, making for an unreal refuge for reef life. Story has it that the USA was willing to sell the equipment for a very modest price to the Franco-British island as it was too expensive to bring back. When the island refused, counting on America leaving the trucks, jeeps, ambulances, etc. for free, their hopes of a free deal were drowned with the equipment, as all were driven off the pier. A not-so-great business decision has made now for a hell-of-a-great dive site. Music is by Boards of Canada named Come to Dust