The mysterious Yonaguni

A man-made artifact or a natural rock formation - one of the most exciting underwater monuments.

The so-called Yonaguni Monument was discovered in 1982 by Kihachiro Aratake who wanted to find the best hammerhead observing spots. Yonaguni is westernmost inhabited island of Japan and it lies only 108 kilometres east of Taiwan. The sea surroinding the small island was often visited by the divers but nobody knew about the monument. The huge rock formations were different form anything else he saw before so he told about his discovery to scientists. A group of experts later visited the site to learn more about its origin.

The Yonaguni Monument became a popular dive site altough the currents can be quite strong here. The divers will see the huge rectangular parts, the pillars, columns, etc. Many of the visitors think it must be a man-made monument because of the parallel faces, round holes, sharp edges, right angles. Maybe the most famous elements are the twin megalith which have been compared to another megalithic buildings. If humans built the monument it must have happened during the last ice age when the sea level was lover. It means the Yonaguni Monument is at least 10,000 years old.

Other scientists believe the monument is a natural rock formation but possibly modified by the people who lived here. They claim the "drawings" are natural scratches on the rocks, and the position of the "megaliths" is the result of an earthquake. The movies which have been shot there can't answer the questions but at least they're attracting for most of the divers - all of us would happily explore this special site.