Yarrgh!!

Just about everybody loves pirates, including scuba divers. Scratch that. Especially scuba divers.

So what scuba diver would pass up the chance to do something involving her two favorite things? First, a little background.

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I’m not much of a wreck diver, and my experience is quite limited. Nevertheless, a recent article in the PADI publication The Undersea Journal caught my attention.

The article is about wreck diving, and an insert gives what author Ty Sawyer calls “15 hot wreck diving destinations.” I thought I’d share them here with you, in case you are looking for travel inspiration:

• Truk Lagoon, Chuuk
• Scapa Flow, Scotland, United Kingdom
• Great Lakes, USA / Canada
• Iron Bottom Sound, Solomon Islands
• Espirito Santo, Vanuatu
• Kwajalein Atoll
• South Florida and Florida Keys, USA
• Palawan / Coron / Cebu region, Philippines
• Bermuda
• Bikini Atoll
• Grenada, Lesser Antilles
• Vancouver Island, Canada
• Labuan, Malaysia
• United States Virgin Islands
• North Carolina, USA

I like this list for its variety—it has something for everyone, no matter where you live.

The article highlights a few noteworthy wrecks. These are the SS Yongala in Queensland, Australia, the Fujikawa Maru in Truk Lagoon, Chuuk, the SS President Coolidge in Vanuatu, the Antilla in Aruba, The Zenobia in Cyprus, and the USS Saratoga in Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands.

Check out the article for a longer list of “other wrecks not to miss.”

Photo by Misserion

Last week, California Governor Schwarzenegger signed the California artificial reef bill, laying the ground work for artificial reefing projects in California.

This bill limits the government’s liability for scuba diving and fishing accidents on artificial reefs. This was a huge impediment to laying artificial reefs in the California waters.

There are already a large number of artificial reefs off California, as most west coast divers know. Surprisingly, most of these are composed of quarry rock, rather than ships and barges. Others are made of light poles, pier pilings, concrete chimneys, and old streetcars. Here is a list of artificial reefs and coordinates, which also says what each are made of.

This initiative was pushed by California Ships to Reefs, so I expect newer reefs to be made of unsalvageable ships. While there are a few artificial reefs made of ships off California, like the Yukon in San Diego, they are definitely in the minority.

Not only do artificial wrecks provide shelter for fish, but they also provide a relatively safe wreck diving environment. They tend to be safer than genuine wrecks because all hazardous materials are removed prior to sinking.

Photo from yukonsite.wordpress.com