You can crisscross the country, scuba diving for a week or for a day, and your buddies will have only one question: Which one was the biggest, deepest, hairiest wreck? We’re guilty too. We set our eyes on the biggest prize, sometimes overlooking the attraction that’s right next door — and it just might be that secondary wreck that deserves top billing. Check out some less famous wreck dives from around the United States.

Wreck Diving In California

HMCS Yukon

“Hundreds and hundreds of people spent thousands and thousands of hours prepping the wreck,” says Eric Mycroft, captain at Lois Ann Dive Charter, of the Yukon, a 366-foot destroyer purpose-sunk in 2000. “The size of the ship is a big deal,” says Mycroft, adding that it’s ideal for bettering any diver’s skills because it offers so many rooms and levels to penetrate — nearly the entire interior is accessible. The most popular penetration corridor, nicknamed Burma Road, runs from bow to stern, a distance longer than most scuba divers can swim in one dive. Fortunately, the team that readied the ship for sinking placed cutouts every 10 feet, providing points for exiting or turning around. Adds Mycroft, “Really, only the boiler room is blocked of because they couldn’t make it safe — otherwise, pretty much everything else is in play.”

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USS Hogan

“The Hogan can be your best day of diving or your worst,” says Mycroft of the 314-foot destroyer sunk in 1945 for torpedo practice. It lies 90 minutes south of San Diego — near the Mexican border — in sand roughly 125 feet below the surface. “It's a harder dive, more expensive and requires more training," adds Mycroft. Because it’s been down longer than the Yukon, it boasts much more sea life, like 4-foot lingcod. “Even the crevices of the ship are beautiful and packed with life,” he says. The currents pushing past the site help critters flourish but can also wreak havoc on scuba divers. “Viz can go from 70 feet to 3 feet in the snap of your fingers.” Because of the conditions, many operators offer it as a drift or “live” dive, keeping the boat’s engine running while guests are down. It all adds up to a challenge best suited to experienced divers. Says Mycroft, “If you want an easy, solid trip, you dive the Yukon, but if you want an adventure, you choose the Hogan.”

GO NOW loisann.com

Wreck Diving In The Florida Keys

USS Spiegel Grove

“The Spiegel has notoriety,” says Dan Dawson, owner of Horizon Divers in Key Largo, Florida. During its 2002 sinking, “it went down early, and a hurricane flipped it in 2005 — that’s newsworthy stuff that got noticed worldwide,” he says of why the Navy landing ship remains the Upper Keys’ most popular wreck. Plus, at 510 feet, its sheer size promises bragging rights, as does the amount of penetrable real estate. Says Dawson, “if you are advanced wreck trained, you can spend an hour inside." Scuba divers can swim past the galley’s ovens, sinks and stoves, plus the mess hall, engine rooms, pump rooms, living quarters and brig. Purpose-sunk, the wreck’s superstructure offers many exits, and thus ambient light. It’s the kind of ship that gives more and more to those who log time exploring it. “At 85 feet, Snoopy riding an alligator is painted on the floor,” says Dawson. “When people hear about that, they always want to see it.”

GO NOW horizondivers.com

Eagle

“Personally, I like the Eagle better than the Spiegel because it’s smaller,” says Eric Billips, owner of Islamorada Dive Center. “On the Spiegel, I might hang at the bow or the cranes, and that’s the entire dive — and there’s 95 percent more wreck, so it takes a week to get a feel for its layout.” The 287-foot Eagle, although not a secret spot by a long shot, is known for the fact that it was sunk in 1985 along with three other ships in the Keys. It’s largely accessible to scuba divers given its maximum depth of 115 feet, and that it’s severed in two, courtesy of 1998’s Hurricane Georges. Billips’ favorite routes lead through the ship’s stern. For more adventurous divers, he recommends the mess hall and machine shop. Says Billips, “The Eagle’s a more intimate experience because in one dive, you can do the whole ship.”

GO NOW islamoradadivecenter.com

Wreck Diving In Hawaii

USS YO-257

This two-for-one site is famous because it’s easy to reach, just 10 minutes from the Kewalo Basin, just outside Waikiki, Oahu. longside the Navy oiler ship that served in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War lies the San Pedro, a former Korean fishing boat. Both ships, lying roughly 40 feet apart at a depth of 85 feet, were sunk by the Atlantis Submarines Hawaii. The tour company pilots its yellow vessels overtop the wrecks, making several passes. “People are looking through the porthole, waving and taking pictures — divers usually get a kick out of that,” says Lewis Heuermann, master instructor at Island Divers Hawaii. As for the wreck itself, the most fun is inside the cargo holds. “You can cross from one side of the ship to the other in the large cargo bays, swimming figure eights.”

• Watch a video of a dive on the YO-257 wreck.

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Vought F4U Corsair

“It has real wreck appeal,” says Heuermann of the authenticity of the Corsair, whose pilot was forced to ditch the plane in 1948 when a fuel gauge failed. It’s still intact, on its belly in sand at 115 feet. The cockpit’s stick, rudder pedals and seat remain. “It pulls you back to that time when our nation was at war,” says Heuermann. Beyond the WWII connection, the site gives the chance to witness actual flybys. “The Corsair sits on a ledge in a blue channel,” he says. “When you dive it, you face the abyss." He’s seen a lot of sharks at the site, plus mantas and other pelagics. “In the winter, if you’re lucky, you could get a whale.”

GO NOW oahuscubadiving.com

Wreck Diving In New York

Keystorm

“You can actually see the hole where the Keystorm hit the Scotch Island Shoal,” says Michael Rothschild, president of the New York City Sea Gypsies dive club. The ship, which was built in 1908, went down just four years later. The result is quite astonishing. Since the disaster, the 256-foot steel freighter has perched at an almost impossible angle into the St. Lawrence Seaway: The 2,300- ton vessel tips from 25 feet deep to 110. Although the pitch makes for a somewhat disorienting dive, it also keeps the site accessible to scuba divers of every skill set — and thus it reigns as the Thousand Islands’ most popular wreck. For good reasons: Impact aside, the Keystorm still remains largely intact, and “it has big open holes, but the superstructure is mostly whole, great for photography,” says Rothschild. Highlights of the wreck include the engine room, the corridor along the port side that creates a swim-through, and the propeller at 120 feet.

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A.E. Vickery

"The Vickery would be nothing in sea water — but fresh water preserves these hundreds-of-years-old wrecks,” says Rothschild. The 140- foot three-masted wooden schooner was built in 1861 and sank 28 years later, upright and intact in the St. Lawrence Seaway just beyond Lake Ontario’s northeastern point. “It's still got a lot of life — it looks like a pirate ship," he says. Vickery’s stern juts of a submerged shelf, sticking straight into the shipping channel. A highlight for scuba divers is dropping out and below the wreck’s backside to peer up at the ship and its rudder. Another noteworthy feature must be viewed from inside the hull. “Sunlight filters in between the planks, down through the open deck for a pretty effect,” says Rothschild.

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Wreck Diving In The Great Lakes

Prins Willem V

“Anyone who gets their hands on a guide to Great Lakes wrecks gets excited about the Prins Willem,” says Greg Such, owner of Shipwreck Adventures, a dive operator based in the Wisconsin town of Two Rivers, a 90-minute drive north of Milwaukee. The 254-foot intact freighter is the areas most popular wreck, 4 miles offshore and 45 feet deep. Of the 10 rooms and three ship levels divers can penetrate, Such’s favorite inside passage starts near a skylight in the engine room and exits near a bulkhead crack. “The engine is enormous, and there’s a glow from the skylights behind you.” Scuba divers can also reach the wheelhouse and crew quarters, and peer into the galley. Because the ship is so intact, shallow and penetration safe, it ranks high for access — which Such credits for its popularity: “For people to enjoy something, they have to be able to reach it.”

GO NOW shipwreckadventures.com

SS Milwaukee

“People dive the Prins Willem, and then they want more,” says Such. The Milwaukee is just that: bigger and deeper. The 338-foot train ferry, 8.5 miles from the Milwaukee harbor, lies between 90 and 128 feet of water. “It intimidates people that it's on the edge of recreational limits,” he adds. The ship’s interior is less intact, and less accessible overall than the Prins Willem due to somewhat collapsed upper cabins, but scuba divers can penetrate the boiler room, crew’s quarters and the deck where the train cars lie in storage. The easiest interior swims are in the forecastle. But be warned: Even just exploring the exterior can push limits. “It’s swimmable, but to do it all at once is easier as a technical dive,” says Such. “Or do what I do: Ride a DPV.”

GO NOW shipwreckadventures.com

North Carolina

U-352

“The intrigue comes from the stories and mystery surrounding the U-352,” says Jay Mead of Discovery Diving, a scuba operator in Beaufort, North Carolina. Sunk in 1942, the submarine remains the area's most requested wreck largely because of its involvement in the famous cat-and-mouse hunts. Depth charges forced the sub to surface, and Mead says, “the Coast Guard really didn’t know how to react to a prisoner situation — they had no instructions from anybody.” They shot and injured a few Germans in the water before collecting the surrendering men. Now the 218-foot, relatively intact structure gives divers the chance to see a conning tower and torpedo hatches, and honor a war grave. Says Mead, “For some, it fills a square, like going to a Civil War fort, but for others, it creates a real attachment.”

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USCGC Spar

“Pardon my French, but it’s a holy-sh*t moment.” Mead is describing the inevitable on the Spar: encountering a snaggle-toothed sand tiger shark. “I’ve been within inches of a 10-foot sand tiger weighing 350 pounds,” he says. “Sometimes there are so many on the wreck, you can’t see through the lot of them.” Those who penetrate will also find them inside. Outside, the mix of warm and cold currents attracts other shark species, including the occasional great white. “When that happens, we send a note down the anchor line telling people to get out of the water — it's no joke." But great-white sightings are rare. Slightly more common are sightings of mantas, whale sharks and even sunfish. Says Mead, “Once you get over the initial rush of having seen any shark, you notice its behavior and beauty — there’s nothing like seeing a nose poking through a whole school of baitfish.”

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Bonus: Wrecks With A Past

Sometimes a military attack or mother nature dooms a ship.

USS ARIZONA
Location: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii | Depth: 40 feet

It was Sunday morning when Japanese naval forces bombed the USS Arizona, bringing the warship and 1,177 crew members to their final resting place. The date was Dec. 7, 1941. Though scuba diving isn’t permitted, a memorial built above the war grave honors those who lost their lives. | Go Now nps.gov

W.E. HUTTON (AKA PAPOOSE)
Location: North Carolina | Depth: 65 to 70 feet

The 435-foot Hutton was transporting fuel from Texas to Pennsylvania when it was struck by a torpedo during WWII. The U.S. Navy originally thought it was the Papoose; even after being identified as the Hutton, the incorrect name stuck. | Go Now olympusdiving.com

ALEXANDER NIMICK
Location: Lake Superior, Michigan | Depth: 15 to 20 feet

Among the wrecks at the bottom of Lake Superior is the American cargo ship Alexander Nimick. Stranded on a sandbar near the mouth of the Two Hearted River, the 100-foot Nimick was pummeled by heavy seas on Sept. 21, 1907 — killing six of its crew. Go Now shipwreckexplorers.com

Bonus: Tec Wrecks

Bring your wreck-diving cred to these sites beyond rec limits

COMET
Location: Lake Superior off Whitefish Point on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula | Depth: 200 to 230 feet

A hazardous tangle of timbers and cables, plus poor visibility and unpredictable currents, await divers exploring this 181-foot wooden-hulled steamship, launched in 1857. A workhorse on Lake Superior, Comet was carrying 70 tons of Montana silver ore when it sank on Aug. 26, 1875, after being rammed by the Canadian sidewheeler Manitoba. | Go Now abyssdivecharters.com

NAECO
Location: The ship sits in three pieces, with the stern and bow about a mile apart roughly 38 nautical miles due south of Morehead City, North Carolina | Depth: 90 (stern) to 140 feet (bow)

Depth on the deeper bow section makes this a dive for experienced wreck divers; the stern is at a more rec friendly 90 feet. On March 23, 1942, the 411-foot Naeco was torpedoed by the U-124 doing World War II. While the bow is deep, the Gulf Stream keeps the water invitingly clear and warm — though divers should expect mild to moderate currents. | Go Now olympusdiving.com

ANDREA DORIA
Location: 60 miles off Nantucket Island | Depth: 250 feet

Soon after its maiden voyage in 1953, the 697-foot luxury liner Andrea Doria was making headlines. Three years later, Doria collided with Stockholm in heavy fog. It is no longer safe to penetrate this deteriorating ship, and only a few divers can test their mettle in dark, cold water, ever-shifting ocean currents and depths reaching 250 feet. | Go Now njscuba.net

Bonus: Wrecks Abroad

ST. CROIX, USVI
Five wrecks occupy Butler Bay on the west shore of St. Croix. The deepest is the 177-foot Rosa Maria, popular for a swim-through between its prop and hull, and the turtles attracted to its wheelhouse. Of the shallower wrecks, the 144- foot Suffolk Maid is most prized.

GUAM
Here you can simultaneously lay one hand on WWII’s Tokai Maru and another on SMS Cormoran II, scuttled in 1917 during World War I. Also in Apra Harbor is the Kitsugawa Maru freighter, upright at 160 feet.

NORTHERN MARIANAS ISLANDS
On June 23, 1944, the USS Yorktown torpedoed the 400-foot Japanese freighter Shoun Maru off Terunon Village, Rota. It sits in 70 to 100 feet of water with an exposed cargo of trucks, bicycles and bathtubs. Off the neighboring island of Saipan lies a Boeing B-29 in 30 feet of water.

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