FIRST CLASS LOBBY AND CONTINENTAL LOUNGE AS WELL AS LIBRARY (Maximum depth 35m)

This dive can either be done alone or as part of another dive such as the First Class Dining Room. You can also do the Continental Lounge as part of any dive to The Bridge or on the way back from the Swimming Pool, the Soda Fountain or a general dive to the location of the Toilets.

To do this dive as a separate dive, descend at the normal location and then swim across the hull to Euart's Door. This is the door that Captain Elwood Euart was attempting to exit when the President Coolidge sank. For more details on this, see the article on the ship's sinking. The door was the main entrance to the ship (starboard side) when it was tied up at a wharf and is about one third of the way from the bow to the stern.

Kelly entering Euart's Door	Kelly inside the door

The door now lies at an angle and it is a bit of work to get through the door. When you are in the Lobby you are on C Deck. For a morning dive drop down to the bottom and you will find some crockery. There is an entrance to the First Class Dining Room here and you can swim along the bottom to the other end (this is the top of the Lobby if the ship was upright). Outside the dining room there is a lift on either side of the ship and you can see the concertina doors of the lift. For an afternoon dive, do not drop to the bottom and look at the upper entrance to the dining room near Euart's Door. There is a dishwasher here and some crockery inside (cups mainly).

The Dining Room Elevator	Looking from The Lobby to the outside

As mentioned, you are now in the First Class Lobby. Swim out towards the light pass B Deck and and A Deck to the Promenande Deck. Once you are out in the open, you are in the location where the Lobby was on the Promenade Deck before this whole section collapsed sometime after 2002 and before 2005. This used to be where there was a couple of very interesting things. The most obvious were the skylights which were located over the Lobby. Even when the area was intact, they gave a good deal of light to the Lobby.

The Toilets	Some of the remains of the Moasic Fountain

There was also the base of a colourful ceramic tiled fountain located under the main staircase that went up to the Boat Deck. There is a section of this on the top of the Promenade Deck at the rear (see photo below). The timber staircase is totally gone, as is the railing and the stairs down to A Deck and B Deck from where you have just come. The metal base of the staircase remained. However, this was also destroyed or hidden when the superstructure collapsed.

The Continental Lounge looking towards the stern Note the Mushroom Light on right	Continental Lounge Skylights

Ahead and below you can see the remains of the Toilets which used to be located between the Lobby and the First Class Smoking Room. There are two rows of toilets, I do not know where the third row is now.

From here turn right you go into the Continental Lounge though the doorway. This is quite open and lit from another set of skylights (you can exit or enter though some broken ones). There are some lights on your left that are commonly known as "mushroom" lights. There are some other lights along here as well that are also quite interesting. The next section to see is the Library and Writing Room but there is little to see here.

A Mushroom Light in the Continental Lounge	The Library

From here you head out across the bridge area and if you have time and air, you can head to Hold Two and Hold One.

Return to the SS President Coolidge Dive Index Page.