sunk on purpose....no appeal?

So I was reading the post about the best shipwrecks below, and some seem like really cool dives but, the ones that were sunk on purpose don't really have any appeal to me. I don't know how to explain it but I have absolutly no desire to dive on artifical reef type ships. I'm not knocking those that do like it, but it seems a little to amusement parkish to me. Something about the sinking, accident, or what ever put it on the bottom is part of the appeal. To me the history that make a wreck a dive site is fascinating. Does anyone else feel like this?

I really enjoy both. I enjoy natural wrecks because they weren't stripped down before cleaning and I love learning about how they got to bottom. In enjoy artificial wrecks because they tend to be more recent, have a greater profile and a lot of wild life. IMO a lot of natural wrecks I've seen don't have the profile because they've been down there longer and were damaged as a part of the sink and tend to be tore up a bit more.

I dive wrecks for the life that is on them, and a little bit for the cool views you can get looking up at or through the structure, so I don't mind if they were deliberately scuttled.

But I have to say that diving the Thistlegorm, after seeing photographs of it and hearing the story of how it sank, was a whole different emotional experience.

I agree, I have little desire to dive artificial wrecks. I'm not enthralled by wrecks in general (I know marine life likes to hang out there, but I prefer what I would call "natural" backdrops.) But I have even less desire to dive artificial wrecks than real ones.

I'm in complete agreement with you! I can appreciate the concept of artificial reefs, but don't find any thrill in diving intentionally sank ships. I think it's ironic how the ship spends its entire career trying to stay above water only to be retired to the bottom of the ocean!

I like both. They have just sunk a ex Navy ship ex HMAS Canberra Reef - Victoria - World Class Temperate Water Diving Destination just outside the bay as a big tourism thing and it is a lot of fun to dive. There are also dozens of scuttled wrecks as well like a number of J class submarines and various other ships. The Canberra reef is very clean at the moment and swimming around inside is fun as it looks like a normal ship... but just underwater. It is like an amusement ride really and I like amusement rides. It will also be interesting to watch the change in the ship over time as it becomes overgrown and a host to various marine life.

Natural shipwrecks are interesting in a different way to me, because of the history behind them, which I find fascinating.

Both are good imho... but for different reasons I'd be hardpressed to find something I didn't like or didn't find interesting underwater. Caves, for example, I never saw how they could be interesting, bits of rock and no life, until the first time I was in one and was blown away by how beautiful they can look. So pretty much now I don't think there is a type of diving I'm not into

Well, the Salem Express was sunk accidentally, and I will never dive on it again. I almost wish I hadn't dove it in the first place.


All the best, James

bell47:

So I was reading the post about the best shipwrecks below, and some seem like really cool dives but, the ones that were sunk on purpose don't really have any appeal to me. I don't know how to explain it but I have absolutly no desire to dive on artifical reef type ships. I'm not knocking those that do like it, but it seems a little to amusement parkish to me. Something about the sinking, accident, or what ever put it on the bottom is part of the appeal. To me the history that make a wreck a dive site is fascinating. Does anyone else feel like this?

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Agree with all except "...the ones that were sunk on purpose don't really have any appeal to me." I like wrecks. ALL wrecks. But the artificials are a completely different animal, except in name. I've been on most of the signifcant (commercially rewarding) Key Largo area wrecks, Bibb, Duane, Eagle, Spiegel, Benwood, and truly enjoyed them buckets. But the wrecks that excite me, really excite me are the ones I've been on here in NJ. Dripping with history, drama, mystery, prizes, surprises, etc. Reading about their demise (collision at night while running lights out, hitting mines, shelled and torpedoed by U-boats, collision in bad weather, etc.) adds to the appeal and mystique. There's also a certain (elitest?) pride in being good enough to have made many dives on them and returned unscathed. So far. (I am proud of this but not overly self-confident; I still put my pants on one leg at a time, unless I've been drinking the night before.)

Don't get me wrong, If they sunk a ship for a reef near where I live I'd go check it out, But I guess I like the history part ot it as well. It's really great reading other divers perspectives on diving!

fdog:

Well, the Salem Express was sunk accidentally, and I will never dive on it again. I almost wish I hadn't dove it in the first place.


All the best, James

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Okay James, you can't post that without an explanation.