Text and Photography by Bill Harrigan

good wreck is a great dive, whether you have ten dives under your weightbelt or a thousand. Why do we find wrecks so fascinating? Is it the history they reveal, or the tragedy they conceal? Or is it simply the excitement of seeing a familiar shape appear like a faded blue apparition as you descend toward the bottom? There is something strangely compelling about passing beneath the encrusted propeller of a large wreck or swimming through the dark passages of her interior. Whatever the reason, wrecks have a special appeal of their own, and nowhere is this more thrillingly apparent than in The Bahamas. While the wrecks in these islands offer myriad opportunities for adventure, they can generally be separated into three categories: shallow wrecks, wrecks in moderate depths and deep wrecks. We'll highlight just a few of the best in each category for you here.

Deep Wrecks
What's the draw of deep wrecks? Physical integrity, for starters. Wrecks that lie deeper than 90 or a 100 feet are protected from the destructive surge of most storms, so they tend to be more intact than shallower wrecks. Scale is another reason deeper wrecks are appealing.

Bahamas shipwrecks can be found in all conditions, from those that seem to be seaworthy, to those that seem to be sea bottom.

When the water is exceptionally clear, as in The Bahamas, there is nothing like seeing a large wreck from a distance. As you swim toward it, the details become clearer and the wreck seems to get larger. Theo's Wreck, off Grand Bahama, is an excellent example. Sunk in 1982, this 238-foot freighter is lying intact on her port side in 100 feet. Most days you can see the hull as soon as you put your face in the water. Twenty feet down you can make out the wheelhouse, the massive open holds and the point of the bow. Up close, the ship seems huge. The cavernous cargo hold is encrusted with sponges and black corals, and hosts a variety of fish. Walkers Cay has two deep wrecks, both oceangoing tugboats that were sunk in about 100 feet of water. Named Esther K. and Dorothy H., they are perfectly set up for sport diving. The freighter Comberbach, complete with an old bus in the forward cargo hold, sits upright on the sand in 100 feet of water off Long Island. This is an excellent wreck for wide angle photography. You get three for one at the Shipyard, a remarkable wreck site off Paradise Island. Three vessels lie on the bottom here, a 150-foot supply vessel called Ana Lise, a 95-foot passenger ship called Helena C., and an oil tanker called the Bahama Shell. All three have been on the bottom for about ten years and are nicely encrusted. Like a graveyard, it's spooky, but somehow alluring.