Truk Lagoon for the world's greatest wreck fleet, Egypt for the Thistlegorm and Abu Nuhas, Bikini Atoll for technical-level warships, and Scapa Flow for cold-water history.
Wreck divers have four destinations that stand above everything else, and they suit very different experience levels.
Truk Lagoon in Micronesia is the benchmark: more than 50 Japanese vessels sunk in Operation Hailstone in 1944, sitting in warm, clear, sheltered water between 10 and 60 metres. Holds full of trucks, aircraft, medical supplies and munitions, coral-covered masts, and enough variety to fill a two-week charter. Recreational divers get plenty; technical divers get the deeper hulls.
Egypt offers the most accessible world-class wreck diving
The SS Thistlegorm, a British WWII freighter at 17 to 32 metres, is arguably the most famous wreck dive on the planet, and Abu Nuhas holds four shallow cargo wrecks within one reef. Both are on standard northern Red Sea itineraries, so no technical training is required.
Bikini Atoll is the extreme end — the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga, the battleship Nagato and the Prinz Eugen, all deep, all requiring technical certification and serious planning, in one of the most remote places liveaboards run.
For cold-water divers, Scapa Flow in Orkney holds the scuttled German High Seas Fleet, dived from small liveaboards in 8 to 14°C water with drysuit skills essentially mandatory.
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