One of the best Caribbean wreck dives is the wreck of the C/S Charlie Brown on the island of Statia (St. Eustatius). Statia is only a quick 10 minute plane ride from Saba. I truly love vacationing on Saba. It is well away from the crowded reefs like Bloody Bay Wall on the Cayman islands or Palancar reef on Cozumel.
In its hay-day the C/S Charlie Brown spent almost 50 years lying fiber optic cable around the world. She was built in 1950 and is 327 feet long with a beam of about 41.4 feet.
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If it weren’t for the coral reef located in the Florida Keys, the United States would have nothing to offer as far as scuba diving and coral reefs are concerned. In addition to the living coral reef that has been a main scuba diving attraction of the Florida Keys for more than 35 years, numerous dive able wrecks are scattered throughout the waters providing exotic and breathtaking artificial reef habitats. Here is a brief overview of some of the wrecks you can visit while scuba diving in the Florida Keys:
Benwood – The Benwood is perhaps the oldest scuba diving wreck site to be found in the Florida Keys. This WWII ship was sunk in 1942 when it collided with another whip while dodging German U-boats near the coast of Florida. While the wreck is not intact (it was blown apart because it presented a boating hazard) it is home to a wide array of marine life. Scuba diving near the Benwood will bring you face to face with critters such as Pork fish, grunts, lobsters, moray eels, glassy sweepers, Sergeant Majors, Goatfish, and Christmas Tree Worms. Since the ship had run aground before it was blown up, the dive is a relatively shallow one and great for novice divers as well as advanced divers.
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As long as people have been building boats and ships they have been sinking. And as long as people have been able to dive under the water they have been going down to look at these sunken ships. There is a magical and mysterious lure to that part of our history resting undiscovered on the bottom of the ocean. Scuba divers dive on wrecks for several reasons. Some seek treasure and profit. Some are professional or hobby archaeologists and are interested in historical information. And other divers just enjoy the excitement and adventure of visiting a ship wreck.
Safety is the biggest concern for all scuba divers but even more so for wreck divers. There is a risk of becoming trapped or lost in a wreck. Special training is available to scuba divers where they learn how to use special equipment. Reels of line are used to lay down a safe path through the maze of a ship wreck. Extra tanks of air are slung from the diver. Powerful underwater lights are required to light up the darkness. Wreck divers learn how to plan their dives so that they use one third of their air to reach the wreck, one third of their air to enjoy the wreck and return to the surface and hold the last third in reserve in case of emergency. Wreck divers have to especially cautious of hazards such as sharp and jagged metal.
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