Florida Panhandle Shipwreck Trail
Divers will find picturesque reefs and submerged objects to explore. The most popular underwater destinations include five ships wrecked near Perdido Key, ranging from the world’s largest artificial reef – a former Navy aircraft carrier, the USS Oriskany– to a barge and a fruit freighter.
The sunken vessels are part of the Panhandle Shipwreck Trail, which includes 12 shipwrecks scattered across North Florida from Pensacola to Port St. Joe. The historic shipwrecks, which are protected by law, attract a range of marine life and pose varying degrees of difficulty for divers.
FIVE OF THE SITES ARE LOCATED IN THE PERDIDO KEY/PENSACOLA BAY AREA
- The world’s largest artificial reef, the famous carrier USS Oriskany, sunk in 2006 after serving in the Pacific Ocean.
- YDT-14, a veteran U.S. Navy dive tender sunk in 2000 at a depth of 90-100 feet.
- San Pablo, an international fruit freighter destroyed during World War II by a top-secret U.S. military operation that was testing an experimental weapon system.
- The oilfield supply vessel Pete Tide II, which became an artificial reef in 1993 and offers three decks of superstructure to explore.
- Three coal barges, located in shallow water, sunk in 1974.
The Florida Panhandle Shipwreck Trail was funded in part through a grant agreement from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Florida Coastal Management Program, by a grant provided by the Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
To learn more about the Florida Panhandle Shipwreck Trail, visit www.floridapanhandledivetrail.com.