I am a Shipwreck addict! Best Caribbean wrecks?

[Doc]

PAR? Placed Artificial Reef?
or
Wreck? Man’s hubris.

A bright shiny new dime if you remember on of the single most popular PAR sites of the past…
The ORO VERDE.

Buehler? Anyone?

 

[Phil Ravlin]

@Jaan Leemet

Thanks for sharing the details! I am headed to Roatan in early Sept and will check out all the wrecks that time allows.....cheers

 

[scubadada]

Odyssey and El Aguila in Roatan
Diving the Graveyard of the Caribbean in Roatan

Kittiwake in Cayman
Scuba Diving Vacation in Grand Cayman | Freedom Tour Travel

The El Aguila was mediocre to poor, very little life. The wall/reef Front Porch was quite good

The Kittiwake is also nearly lifeless, mediocre. The adjacent reef, Sand Chute, is quite good.

The Capt Keith Tibbets in Brac is a much better dive than the Kittiwake and there are some interesting near pinnacles.

 

[Invader]

Hey Fellow Wreck Junkie

Including a few links / pics from my wife's blog for you

The Bianca in Grenada was a cool one... We got the wreck Junkie shirt out there !!
Diving the Wrecks of Grenada’s South Coast

Odyssey and El Aguila in Roatan
Diving the Graveyard of the Caribbean in Roatan

Kittiwake in Cayman
Scuba Diving Vacation in Grand Cayman | Freedom Tour Travel

Hilma Hooker in Bonaire
Tale of the Hilma Hooker Shipwreck in Bonaire | Freedom Tour Travel

The huge ones in Florida of course
Diving the 2nd and 3rd Largest Artificial Reefs in the World

I've never done the aircraft carrier (Oriskany) .. but one day hope to.
USS Oriskany (floridapanhandledivetrail.com)

Done the Oriskany more than a few times. Sick dive. Would recommend. Best on trimix but good dives can be had on 26%.
Aruba- SS Atilla
Grenada- Bianca C
Grand Cayman- Kittiwake (only US flagged ship ever sunk outside US territorial waters deliberately for pleasure)

 

[M-diver]

Looking at your profile, you’re based in Chicago. I understand that you asked recommendations for warm water but being a “shipwreck addict” you apparently missing the best place to find real shipwrecks filled with history and mystery in your own backyard.

Great Lakes have thousands of shipwrecks, some almost 200 years on the bottom and still intact. Not the artificial reefs like the Spiegel, Duane, Vandy, big O and others. Everything from brigs and schooners to mighty freighters. Chicago has the Thomas Hume (lost 1891) which is intact with rigging and artifacts. Google it.

Yes it is cold water and better wrecks are found deeper but if that’s an addiction, you might want to consider how to get comfortable getting into a drysuit. Local dive stores and local diving community can help with your journey shall you decide to take plunge.

If you still not ready for cold water but looking for better wrecks, consider North Carolina (Morehead city). They have a collection of wrecks including a WWII German u-boat U-352. Most of these, including the sub, are recreational depths. Sand tiger sharks are a bonus.

 

[Jaan]

We got certified in Brockville in Canada and there are some great cold water wrecks around there too. The cold water, and river current help to preserve these I guess.
We did them in a 7mm with hood and gloves looking like the Michelin Man .. but still enjoyed them a lot. A Drysuit would be a good plan.

BTW, for anyone in Montreal there is a new exhibit (talking about cold water diving) Homepage - Éloize Expo *under the ice, now THAT is cold water diving!!

 

[grf88]

Brockville is Canada's warm water diving. 3mm is plenty in the summer.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

If you love wrecks don’t rule out NC. Fantastic wreck diving. It can be Caribbean-like in the summer.

 

[Ontwreckdiver]

You have some of the best wreck diving in the world right in your own backyard, the Great Lakes.

 

[grf88]

You have some of the best wreck diving in the world right in your own backyard, the Great Lakes.

I am not convinced he is really a shipwreck addict, more a warm water diver who likes shipwrecks. If you dive the Great Lakes you cannot help but become a shipwreck addict and those rusty lumps of steel in the Caribbean would hold no attraction .