Best Wreck Diving Destinations in the World: Depths and Training

The best wreck diving destinations compared

Choose by depth and training first, then by history. Most signature wrecks here sit within 40 m, the usual recreational limit; the San Francisco Maru, the Coolidge's deep end and all of Bikini go further. The table uses the depths each source publishes; where two sources disagree, both are shown. For single-destination guides, see our destination guides.

Almost every site on this list is protected, and several are war graves. Removing anything is illegal at Chuuk, the Coolidge and Scapa Flow, and touching the Thistlegorm is forbidden under Egypt's CDWS guidelines. Plan to look, photograph and leave.

Chuuk (Truk) Lagoon: WWII wrecks from 9 m to 64 m

Chuuk's wrecks range from a superstructure at 9 m to a seabed at 64 m, so one trip can mix recreational and technical dives. The US National Park Service dates the carrier strike, Operation Hailstone, to 17-18 February 1944 (an older NPS study says 16-17 February, Wikipedia 17-19) and says it destroyed virtually all Japanese shipping in the lagoon. Counts differ: an NPS study lists 2 light cruisers, 4 destroyers and about 30 merchant ships sunk inside the lagoon, over 200,000 tons with about 270 aircraft destroyed, while Wikipedia gives 12 warships, 32 merchant ships and 275 aircraft.

The wrecks are protected on two levels. The same NPS study records that in 1971 the local legislature declared them historical monuments and made removing artifacts or marine life illegal, and the site became a US National Historic Landmark in 1985. Wikipedia notes they are treated as Japanese war graves, and human remains lie below deck on some of them.

The Fujikawa Maru, with fighter aircraft in a forward hold, runs from 12 m to 35 m according to SCUBA Travel and 9-34 m according to The Technical Diver. SCUBA Travel gives the Shinkoku Maru as 10-35 m. The San Francisco Maru, with tanks on deck, is another matter: deck at 50 m and seabed at 63-64 m. The Technical Diver calls it a technical dive even though local guides take customers there on single tanks. Getting there means flying through Guam, where you clear US immigration. SCUBA Travel lists three liveaboards and two land-based dive centres, water at 27-30°C and diving all year.

SS Thistlegorm and the Zenobia: famous wrecks in recreational range

These are the two best-known wrecks you can reach on standard deep recreational training. The Thistlegorm's seabed is 30 m according to PADI and 33 m according to Dive The World, and Egypt's CDWS guidelines require 20 logged dives and forbid touching the wreck. Dive The World puts it 3 hours by boat from Sharm el-Sheikh and describes a route through holds 1 to 3 using internal doorways at a maximum of 25 m. Its wartime story is in our five best dive sites article.

The Zenobia, a 172 m ferry, capsized and sank in Larnaca Bay on 7 June 1980 on her maiden voyage, about 1,500 m from shore. She lies on her port side with her lorries still aboard: 104 according to Wikipedia, 108 according to the Cyprus Dive Center Association (CDCA). The CDCA lists Open Water as the minimum and gives 17-43 m; Wikipedia gives 16-42 m and describes beginners diving to 16 m along the starboard side while advanced divers enter the engine room and lower car deck. The seabed is past the usual 40 m recreational limit, so recreational divers plan for the upper side.

SS President Coolidge, Vanuatu: a shore dive to 70 m

The Coolidge is a 199 m liner turned troopship that you reach from the beach, and it rewards divers who come back with more training. On 26 October 1942 she hit American mines while entering the harbour at Espiritu Santo. According to the US National Archives, about 5,000 men got off in 90 minutes and two died. Vanuatu has since declared that no salvage or recovery of objects is allowed; Wikipedia dates that declaration to 18 November 1983.

The wreck lies on a slope at 20-70 m according to Allan Power Dive Tours, and 21-73 m according to Wikipedia. Allan Power's rule of thumb is useful for planning: Open Water divers can see the top of the bow, Advanced or equivalent is the minimum for exploring the wreck, midships dives such as The Lady (a porcelain relief of a woman riding a unicorn) and the engine room need deep certification, and anything beyond needs technical training. The operator gives water temperatures of 26-31°C and April-October as the best period.

Scapa Flow, Scotland: the German High Seas Fleet

Scapa Flow is cold and deep, and its wrecks are protected by law. The German High Seas Fleet was scuttled there on 21 June 1919; of 74 interned ships, 52 sank that day. Seven wrecks remain on the seabed, three battleships (the König, Kronprinz Wilhelm and Markgraf) and four cruisers, and they have been scheduled monuments since 2001. Historic Environment Scotland says the area was designated a Historic Marine Protected Area in August 2025, and that divers visit on a look-but-don't-touch basis; removing items is a criminal offence.

Depths are 12-45 m according to the Scapa Flow Wrecks project, about 40 m according to Historic Environment Scotland and up to 47 m according to Wikipedia. The war graves are off limits: HMS Royal Oak, HMS Vanguard and HMS Hampshire are protected under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986, and unauthorised divers may not approach them.

Water averages 7.1°C in March and 13.1°C in August at Stromness. Depth and cold add risk: DAN Southern Africa reports 10-12 cases of decompression sickness per 10,000 dives in samples of deep technical dives in northern Scotland, against 0-2 per 10,000 at warm-water resorts and liveaboards. Know the symptoms and first aid before you go.

Coron Bay, Bikini Atoll and Gallipoli

Coron Bay in the Philippines has wrecks for every level. On 24 September 1944, 24 US Helldiver bombers escorted by 96 Hellcat fighters had 15 minutes over the bay to hit a Japanese supply fleet. DIVE Magazine gives the Akitsushima at 35 m, the Irako at 43 m, the Olympia Maru at 30 m and the Okikawa Maru at 26 m, about 90 minutes by boat from Coron Town, with December-June as the dry season. Wikipedia adds that the Terukaze Maru at 5-20 m suits beginners and that the Lusong gunboat breaks the surface.

Bikini Atoll is the hardest to reach. The US ran 23 nuclear tests there between 1946 and 1958, and the 1946 Operation Crossroads tests sank the carrier USS Saratoga and the battleship Nagato; the atoll became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2010. Divernet reported in October 2025 that Master Liveaboards was the only operator running trips. It sails from Kwajalein on a 24-27 hour crossing, dives May-October, and asks for PADI Tec 50 or equivalent, 100 logged dives and wreck experience. The Saratoga's flight deck is at about 27 m and the seabed at 51-52 m.

Gallipoli is the newest. Turkey opened the Gallipoli Historical Underwater Park on 2 October 2021 with 14 dive sites, in an area TÜBİTAK gives as 150 km². HMS Majestic, a 128 m battleship torpedoed by the German submarine U-21 on 27 May 1915, lies at 18-23 m; the Lundy, scuttled by the British on 16 August 1915, is at 27 m. Under a 2024 regulation, tourist dives at protected underwater heritage sites are allowed only where the Ministry of Culture and Tourism permits, so book through a local centre.

Wreck diving safety: training, penetration limits and gas

The main rule is simple: going inside a wreck is an overhead dive and needs its own training. DAN's Alert Diver warns that once you enter a wreck you can no longer ascend directly, that fine, dust-like silt builds up on every surface inside, that loose cables and fishing line snare divers and that tilted decks disorient. Its advice is to never go inside until you have advanced wreck training.

The agencies set clear limits. PADI's guidance for Advanced Open Water divers and above is that the distance to an exit plus the distance up to the surface should not exceed 40 m (130 ft), and a penetration needs a line. PADI Wreck Diver training dives stay in the light zone within that 40 m. Going further is technical training: TDI's Advanced Wreck Diver course requires age 18, 50 logged dives and wreck or cavern certification, includes six penetration dives and caps depth at 55 m, with drills for lost lines, silt-outs and air sharing through a restriction with eyes closed.

Gas is the other half. DAN describes the rule of thirds: one third of your gas to go in, one third to come back and one third for delays or emergencies. With a 200 bar fill, our gas planner gives a third of 67 bar and rounds the turn pressure up to 135 bar. Thirds does not tell you how much gas two divers need to reach the surface together from depth, so check it against a rock bottom calculation.

• Lights: a strong primary and at least one backup (DAN; TDI requires both).
• A line on any penetration (PADI), run from a primary reel, with a safety spool as backup (both on TDI's required kit list).
• Line cutters: TDI requires two on its Advanced Wreck course.
• Redundant gas for deeper or longer penetrations: DAN mentions a pony bottle or doubles with a long hose.
• Propulsion techniques for overhead environments, which TDI drills on the course, and a turn pressure agreed before you enter.