40 Canones

40 Canones is a shallow historic wreck site whose main attraction is dozens of large bronze cannons scattered on a white sandy bottom with coral patches, adjacent to an intact coral reef. The site offers a short, sheltered reef dive focused on the wreck and nearby reef topography rather than a long drift or wall dive. The site is boat-access only inside the atoll lagoon and is an open-water dive with negligible currents. The wreck/cannon area lies at about 8 m and the reef slopes down to roughly 12–15 m. Visibility is often 20–25 m or more and water temperatures are around 28–29 °C. Diving here is regulated as an underwater archaeological site; only certified guides authorized by INAH/CONANP may lead dives. Archaeologists interpret the remains as a 17th-century Spanish galleon, possibly the Santiago lost in 1658. The wooden hull is gone but about 36 of the original roughly 40 bronze cannons remain, along with an anchor; many of the cannons and wreckage are partially overgrown by coral. Divers commonly visit the cannon site first and then swim northwest across a sandy plain to the adjacent reef.