Uribe 121 Wreck – Ensenada & Coronado Islands

Site Overview

The Uribe 121 is a former Mexican Navy patrol vessel deliberately scuttled in Ensenada Bay to create an artificial reef and dive site that now hosts diverse cold-water marine communities including rockfish, octopus, and colourful nudibranchs in one of Baja California's most accessible wreck diving experiences. The approximately 30-metre vessel rests upright on a sandy bottom at 16-22 metres depth with its superstructure largely intact, providing a multi-level wreck diving environment from the shallow deck to the deeper hull sections. The cold Pacific waters have created a thriving artificial reef ecosystem with the wreck's surfaces encrusted with sea stars, sponges, and diverse invertebrate communities that attract schooling rockfish and bottom-dwelling species. Octopus hunt among the wreck's openings while lingcod patrol the surrounding sandy areas. The wreck's interior spaces are accessible through several openings for trained wreck divers, though silt accumulation requires careful buoyancy management to maintain visibility. The shallow depth and protected bay location make the Uribe 121 accessible for intermediate divers seeking their first wreck diving experience in cold-water conditions. The artificial reef function has been highly successful, with marine colonisation progressing rapidly since the scuttling and creating biodiversity that far exceeds the surrounding sandy bottom. For Ensenada divers, the wreck provides a complementary dive to the natural reef environments at Los Coronados, adding wreck exploration to the region's already diverse underwater offerings. The proximity to Ensenada harbor and the wine country of Valle de Guadalupe makes this an excellent destination for divers combining underwater exploration with Mexico's premier wine tourism region.