Top 20 wreck dives in the world

[Rhone Man]

Lists like this are always highly subjective, but I am afraid I am a sucker for them. British magazine, Diver, published this recent list in its travel guide. It definitely reflects a more European perspective on the best wrecks, but plenty of interesting discussion points. Caribbean is heavily represented, with four. All wrecks are at recreational depths except the Papoose.

1. Bianca C, Grenada, Caribbean
2. Cristobal Colon, Cuba, Caribbean
3. Don Pedro, Ibiza, Spain
4. Fujikawa Maru, Truk Lagoon
5. SMS Köln, Scapa Flow, Scotland
6. USAT Liberty, Bali, Indonesia
7. HMS Maori, Malta
8. USS Oriskany, Florida
9. Papoose, North Carolina*
10. President Coolidge, Vanuatu
11. RMS Rhone, British Virgin Islands, Caribbean
12. Rose Castle, Newfoundland, Canada
13. Superior Producer, Curacao, Caribbean
14. Thistlegorm, Egypt
15. U1227, Oporto, Portugal
16. Umbria, Sudan
17. SMS Wilhelm Heidkamp, Narvik, Norway
18. Toa Maru 2, Solomon Islands
19. Yongala, Queensland, Australia
20. Zenobia, Cyrpus

* I thought that was an odd one to pick out of all the great wreck dives in North Carolina...

Sadly I have only done two on the list so far (but I have over 400 dives on one of them!). Has anyone done 3 or more?

 

[Doc]

A very good point you make about it being from their perspective.

Geographically, the world looks a lot different when you are standing at 0° Longitude!

Their "backyard pool" is the Red Sea, kind of like we look at the Caribbean.

Yes- lists are highly subjective, but I would place the Thistlegorm and the Coolidge at the top of that list they came up with.

For the Caribbean, they likely haven't seen the shallow intact (placed) wreck of the Prince Albert. That's my favorite as it's an easy shore dive.

 

[Rhone Man]

Yeah, I was a bit surprised by the omission of the USS Saratoga and the MV Keith Tibbets too (perennial favourites). But I guess that is why lists are fun to discuss.

 

[robint]

Your information on the Papoose is wrong... it is in 120' depth water.
See:
Shipwrecks
or
Discovery Diving Co.- NC's Diving Headquarters - Dive Sites


As RoatanMan said... it is just their opinion of which wrecks are "best". I think many people would say different. All of the wrecks in Truk and many in NC are some of the best wreck dives in the world, though many are deep and pushing the Rec limits.

robin

 

[Rhone Man]

Your information on the Papoose is wrong... it is in 120' depth water.

Sorry, the info was right (says 36m). My maths skills are lookings suspect though...

 

[robint]

Sorry, the info was right (says 36m). My maths skills are lookings suspect though...

I was referring to the Wiki link you have....says Papoose was sunk in 200' water. Not true.

 

[RJP]

Has anyone done 3 or more?

I've got three of them in my logbook:

Fujikawa Maru
Superior Producer
Thistlegorm


Note that the Superior Producer does not belong on any list of "Top Wrecks" that also contains the Fujikawa Maru and Thistlegorm. It's clearly one of the "Top Touristy Dive Sites Featuring A Sanitized Boat Placed on The Bottom of the Ocean" in the world including such popular (if not altogether boring) dive sites as the Hilma Hooker and the MV. Captain Keith Tibbetts.

I'd possibly go as far as to add the O into that list as well, but at least it's notable for scale if nothing else.

Such dive sites are nice dives, but they are not "wrecks" in true sense of the word.

 

[scubadada]

Yeah, I was a bit surprised by the omission of the USS Saratoga and the MV Keith Tibbets too (perennial favourites). But I guess that is why lists are fun to discuss.

Just dived the MV Keith Tibbets off Cayman Brac, the dive pales in comparison to the Spiegel Grove and the Duane in Key Largo. Just my opinion.

Good diving, Craig

 

[Louie]

I'm also surprised that the Saratoga wreck is not included in the list - and we know with wreck divers that size gets a lot of points.

I do agree with everyone who stressed that favourites are always very subjective. Out of the four on the list that I've done, picking out the "best" would depend on my mood on the day. Today, I feel drawn toward a dive with rich marine life so I'll vote for the Yongala.

 

[iztok]

The wreck of the Papoose was long thought to be resting upside down in 130 feet of water off Morehead City. However, recent research has definitively proven the tanker drifted for several days before sinking in 200 feet of water off Oregon Inlet. The wreck previously thought to be the Papoose is actually the tanker W.E. Hutton, while the wreck found at the Hutton site is the tanker Ario.