Cocos island Travel Guide

Cocos Island is a 100-acre island at Guam's Southern Coast surrounded by a clear, turquoise lagoon off the shores of Merizo accessible by glass-bottom boats. Besides being a favorite picnic/dining site, Cocos Island is the focus of international attention as a Spanish galleon wreak site which has yet to be recovered. Ten commercial divers and underwater archaeologists have been excavating the ocean depths since may 98.

In June 2, 1690, the Neustra Senora del Pilar de Zaragosa y Santiago hit the southern reef at Cocos Island. It was enroute from Acupulco, Mexico to an annual fair in Manila with shipments of silver swords and artifacts. With its bottom torn, the Spanish Manila galleon sank in ocean waters at depths of 30 to 87 feet. Its naval crew, and some Franciscan missionaries escaped the galleon before it slipped into the ocean shelf. Ships that sailed the trade route carry silks, spices and jewelry from Manila to Acapulco. These items were traded and the galleons carried silver and gold ingots and Spanish coins back across the Pacific to manila.

A 1691 Spanish court of inquiry into the Pilar's loss reported only one chest of silver was recovered. There is a good chance that she was carrying as much as $1.2 billion Spanish coins as ballast in the lower decks of her hold. The sunken hull of the Pilar broke apart during following typhoons and its wreckage drifted into deeper waters. 300 years ago,  Guam and the Marianas Island Chain was a provisioning stopover in the Spanish Galleon Trade.