Wreck diving is recreational diving where the wreckage of ships, aircraft and other artificial structures are explored. The term is used mainly by recreational and technical divers. Professional divers, when diving on a shipwreck, generally refer to the specific task, such as salvage work, accident investigation or archaeological survey. Although most wreck dive sites are at shipwrecks, there is an increasing trend to scuttle retired ships to create artificial reef sites. Diving to crashed aircraft can also be considered wreck diving. The recreation of wreck diving makes no distinction as to how the vessel ended up on the bottom.
An artificial reef is a human-created underwater structure, typically built to promote marine life in areas with a generally featureless bottom. It may be intended to control erosion, protect coastal areas, block ship passage, block the use of trawling nets, support reef restoration, improve aquaculture, or enhance scuba diving and surfing. Early artificial reefs were built by the Persians and the Romans.
USS Spiegel Grove (LSD-32) was a Thomaston-class dock landing ship of the United States Navy. She was named for Spiegel Grove, the home and estate in Fremont, Ohio, of Rutherford B. Hayes, the 19th President of the United States.
Eagle was a freighter that was sunk intentionally near Lower Matecumbe Key, Florida, to become an artificial reef and diving spot.
SS Sapona was a concrete-hulled cargo steamer that ran aground near Bimini during a hurricane in 1926. The wreck of the ship is easily visible above the water, and is both a navigational landmark for boaters and a popular dive site. It is also a good place to see tropical fish attracted to it as an artificial reef.
USNS General Hoyt S. Vandenberg (T-AGM-10) was a General G. O. Squier-class transport ship in the United States Navy in World War II named in honor of U.S. Army Chief of Engineers Harry Taylor. She served for a time as army transport USAT General Harry Taylor, and was reacquired by the navy in 1950 as USNS General Harry Taylor (T-AP-145).
USS YO-257 was a Yard Oiler of the United States Navy that was scuttled two miles off Waikiki, Honolulu, Hawaii in 1989.
Wreck Alley is an area a few miles off the coast of Mission Beach, San Diego, California with several ships intentionally sunk as artificial reefs and as Scuba diving attractions for wreck divers.
Sinking ships for wreck diving sites is the practice of scuttling old ships to produce artificial reefs suitable for wreck diving, to benefit from commercial revenues from recreational diving of the shipwreck, or to produce a diver training site.
USAMP Major General Wallace F. Randolph, sometimes also known as MG Wallace F. Randolph, was a 188.2-foot (57.4 m) mine planter built by the Marietta Manufacturing Company, and delivered to the United States Army Mine Planter Service in 1942. The ship was transferred to the U.S. Navy in 1951, placed directly into the Atlantic Reserve Fleet without being commissioned classed as the auxiliary minelayer ACM-15, then reclassified minelayer, auxiliary (MMA) and named MMA-15, and finally given the name Nausett without any active naval service. After being stricken from the Naval Vessel Register, the ship was transferred to different owners, and eventually was scuttled off the coast of Florida as an artificial reef and fish aggregating device. The site is currently known as the Thunderbolt Wreck, and is considered to be an excellent and challenging dive site for advanced divers.
Shark River Reef is an artificial reef located in the Atlantic Ocean, 15.6 miles southeast of Manasquan Inlet, off of the coast of Ocean County, New Jersey. The site contains almost 4 million cubic yards of dredge rock material. Although 96% of the total reef material is rock, the site also contains numerous subway cars.
Recreational dive sites are specific places that recreational scuba divers go to enjoy the underwater environment or for training purposes. They include technical diving sites beyond the range generally accepted for recreational diving. In this context all diving done for recreational purposes is included. Professional diving tends to be done where the job is, and with the exception of diver training and leading groups of recreational divers, does not generally occur at specific sites chosen for their easy access, pleasant conditions or interesting features.
The Florida Public Archaeology Network, or FPAN, is a state supported organization of regional centers dedicated to public outreach and assisting Florida municipalities and the Florida Division of Historical Resources "to promote the stewardship and protection of Florida's archaeological resources." FPAN was established in 2004, upon legislation that sought to establish a "Florida network of public archaeology centers to help stem the rapid deterioration of this state's buried past and to expand public interest in archaeology."
Amaryllis was a cargo ship built in 1945 at Burrard Dry Dock in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She was 441.6 feet (134.6 m) long and measured 7,147 gross register tons. Originally named Cromwell Park, she was built for the government of Canada to be used in World War II. In 1946 she was sold to Canadian Transportation Co. Ltd. which renamed her the Harmac Vancouver. In 1948, she was sold to Greek shipowner Kydoniefs, renamed the Amaryllis and registered in Panama. In 1965, she ran aground during Hurricane Betsy off the coast of Florida and was later sunk offshore as an artificial reef at 26°47′17″N80°00′58″W.
Lady Thetis was a Cypriot passenger ship sunk for use as a recreational dive site in the Mediterranean Sea off Limassol, Cyprus.
The following index is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Wikipedia's articles on recreational dive sites. The level of coverage may vary:
Recreational dive sites are specific places that recreational scuba divers go to enjoy the underwater environment or for training purposes. They include technical diving sites beyond the range generally accepted for recreational diving. In this context all diving done for recreational purposes is included. Professional diving tends to be done where the job is, and with the exception of diver training and leading groups of recreational divers, does not generally occur at specific sites chosen for their easy access, pleasant conditions or interesting features.
MV Liberty was a Russian cargo ship which was turned into an artificial reef south of Cyprus in 2009. The ship had a gross tonnage of 225 GT, a length of 37 metres (121 ft), and a beam of 7 metres (23 ft).
United Kingdom
