Top 10 wreck dives in the world?

[Rhone Man]

Blatant attempt to make first post look pretty by including picture
from the SS President Coolidge.

I was doing a bit of research online for the Wikipedia article on List of Wreck diving sites (never ending project), and I was Googling sites for "top 10 wreck dives in the world".

What slightly amazed me, for such a subjective subject, was how much overlap there was between people's lists. Lack of imagination? Or are these really the best wreck dives on the planet? I have never done any of them (although I am doing the Zenobia in February, woo hoo!) but I was a bit surprised for example that the USS Tarpon was missing. No love for my own RMS Rhone or the Hilma Hooker either. No technical wrecks at all.

Here are the lists:

According to Leisurepro's Aquaviews:

1. SS President Coolidge, Vanuatu
2. SS Thistelgorm, Sharm el-Sheikh
3. USS Oriskany, Florida
4. Fujikawa Maru, Truk Lagoon
5. Blackjack B17, Papau New Guinea
6. SS Yongala, Australia
7. Captain Keith Tibbetts, Cayman
8. Zenobia, Cyprus
9. Umbria, Sudan
10. SMS Markgraf, Scapa Flow

According to Times Online (not actually listed in any order, but I have reordered them to show parallels to the Aquaviews list)

• SS President Coolidge, Vanuatu
• SS Thistlegorm, Sharm el-Sheikh
• USS Oriskany, Florida
• Fujikawa Maru, Truk Lagoon
• Blackjack B17, Papua New Guinea
• Captain Keith Tibbetts, Cayman
• Zenobia, Cyprus
• Umbria, Sudan
• Bianca C, Grenada
• Nagato, Bikini Atoll

What do others think? Any striking crimes of omission?

 

[Atomic_Diver]

HMS Victoria is a good one i hear

 

[flw]

They are both just lists of good wrecks that are easily accessible to the masses and dived by merely ringing up a dive centre and jumping on a boat - nothing wrong in that, but it clearly isn't going to give a list of the worlds 'best' wrecks - though I would put the Markgraf on my list to be fair - the Thistlegorm is pretty, but there's many nicer less crowded wrecks around.
My own list would include wrecks such as HMS Hampshire, Sword Dance, HMS Pheasant plus the 'unknown 20 miles off wick, haven't a clue what it could be' - but only ever dived about 3 times. None of them are likely to feature in 'best' wrecks lists as the Hampshire is now a restricted site, and the others are beyond normal recreational limits

 

[TSandM]

I haven't dived most of these, and I'm generally not a big wreck person, but the Thistlegorm was an incredible dive, and I'm not surprised it's on both lists.

 

[Rhone Man]

I haven't dived most of these, and I'm generally not a big wreck person, but the Thistlegorm was an incredible dive, and I'm not surprised it's on both lists.

I have heard it is like a zoo most days... I am just hoping to get there before it gets ripped apart by all the grapnels...

 

[TSandM]

There were several boats on the wreck when we were there, but it's such a BIG wreck that there's lots to see. The current was running, so most folks were staying where they were sheltered. We had scooters, so we toured the whole wreck and were alone most of the time. A lot of it is quite intact -- I think it will take the grapnels a while yet

 

[matts1w]

Dare I say it???

The USS Oriskany aint a wreck. It is an artificial reef....maybe an artificial wreck.

I would add the Toa Maru in Gizo, Solomon Islands.

 

[Dr Dive]

Not a problem that it's an artificial reef, not a wreck. That the USS Oriskany is on the lists really says something. Word up, y'all need to dive this ship. It's big, it's awesome and it's accessible; without traveling half way around the world to get there. It's within a 1-2 day drive from the majority of the eastern US population and there are operators standing by to take your calls. Come on down, we'll be happy to have y'all aboard. It really is a great dive and well worth the trip.

Dr Dive
www.drdive.com
drdive@drdive.com

 

[Kevrumbo]

The tanker Shinkoku Maru in Truk Lagoon. The pipe bridge that spans nearly the entire 500' length is known as the "anemone/soft coral highway". . .

 

[vladimir]

No love for my own RMS Rhone or the Hilma Hooker either.

I am not a wreck person, for the most part, but I've done some of the favorites on the vacation-diver circuit (Truk, Palau, BVI, Coral Sea) as well as some of the wrecks off the coast of New York. I think the Rhone compares nicely with the best of them. Artificial-reef-type wrecks--of which the Hilma Hooker is one, I think--don't appeal to me nearly as much. I guess the wreck's history is part of the appeal, so I haven't been on the Hilma Hooker despite 4 trips to Bonaire, and I don't see myself diving the Oriskany either.