Candice LandauLast Updated on April 20, 2025 by Candice Landau
Dropping hand over hand down the mooring line, I am on the wreck in under a minute. The ocean around me is teal blue and the water full of particulate matter. My heart sinks. How on earth am I going to get good photos now? I can only see the tower and maybe some of the flight deck below, though I’m not even certain of that.
Just ahead of me, not far from a slowly rippling US flag, is a lone barracuda. It watches me get my bearings, open mouthed and unblinking. I turn to look for my buddy. She’s already filming, Insta360 camera extended like a jousting pole, her white fins scissoring up and down as she sets a steady pace. I turn back to find the barracuda still watching me, curious as a cat.
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The wreck is so large, at first I’ve no idea how I’m going to make it even look like a ship in my photos. The tower—the only part we can dive if we want to stay within recreational limits—looks more like an office building.
This is a different sort of wreck dive than the ones I’m used to.
As I make my way around the superstructure, I ease into the dive and the depth. Oriskany is beginning to look like a ship. I can make out a funnel, sponge-encrusted radar equipment, and a pilot house that divers are dipping into.
My video light paints color onto the otherwise pewter hulk and like a forest emerging from mist, life slowly takes shape. Large swathes of the wreck are matted with golden zoanthids. Their colonies are so thick in parts they look like hair. I’m enraptured by the color, the dark blues of the depth making it seem all the more ethereal. I take photo after photo, not even stopping to direct the passing divers to better pose.
Barnacles encrust it heavily too, pyramid-shaped grey studs that even after death shelter life of their own—blennies with big expressive eyes and pouty little mouths. I spend at least ten minutes picking over the macro life on the outside, getting particularly hung up over a family of bearded fireworms.
This is why I wreck dive. Not just for history but for the life that makes these wrecks equally alluring. Oriskany has not disappointed.
A dive destination that deserves more hype
I’d been living in Florida for over a year before I learned of USS Oriskany, the largest artificial reef in the world. At 888 feet, it’s even longer than the Titanic. How on earth had I not heard of it?
Later, after my drive and dive assignment was completed, I’d learn that it wasn’t just the Oriskany suffering from a bit of a PR problem. The whole Florida Panhandle was also massively underrated for diving, in spite of the fact that it’s home to more than 40 shipwrecks, as well as many dive charters and dive shops.
There are likely myriad reasons for this but with the purchase of SS United States (a wreck that will soon take Oriskany’s place for largest artificial reef) the truth is, the cat’s out of the bag.
Move over Hawaii, Florida Keys, and North Carolina. This is America’s real wreck diving capital.
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Why the USS Oriskany is a bucket-list dive
The USS Oriskany is often overshadowed by Florida’s better-known wrecks—the Spiegel Grove and the Vandenberg—even though it’s nearly twice as long and steeped in Cold War history.
Sunk intentionally in 2006, the “Mighty O” now lies upright at a depth of 212 feet. The tower starts around 84 feet, while the flight deck sits at 146 feet.
Given much of the wreck lies too deep for recreational divers to access, the tower is the primary focus of the dive. Any deeper than that and NDL and air will quickly become a concern.
Submerged for 20 years, Oriskany has had plenty of time to become richly encrusted with corals, sponges, bryozoans, hydroids and algae. This patina of ocean plants and organisms in turn attracts larger marine life including a variety of fish and sharks. It’s not uncommon to find barracudas, amberjack, tuna and schools of baitfish here.
If marine life isn’t a draw enough, the wreck’s history might be what you’re looking for.
A brief history of the USS Oriskany
USS Oriskany was one of only 24 Essex-class aircraft carriers and was named for one of the bloodiest battles of the Revolutionary War: the Battle of Oriskany.
At the end of World War II, construction of the ship was suspended and shortly thereafter converted to a newer design known as a 27-Charlie. It operated in both the Korean War and the Vietnam War and was decommissioned shortly thereafter in 1976.
Sold for scrap in 1995 it did little but sit and continue to rust. In 2004, the Navy—having obtained the wreck—decided to gut it and sink it to create an artificial reef. Two years later, the deed was done and USS Oriskany became America’s “great barrier reef,” just 22 nautical miles south east of the Pensacola Pass.
Preparing to dive USS Oriskany
If you’re planning on diving the Mighty O, you’ll want an advanced open water diver certification that clears you to dive to at least 100 feet. If you have a deep certification or a technical certification, all the better—you’ll be able to see a little more.
Bring an SMB and reel (and know how to deploy it) and, in my personal opinion, a marine rescue GPS. I use a Nautilus LifeLine and frankly never dive without it. Currents on this wreck can apparently be strong, though when I did my dives, it was perfectly calm.
You can rent tanks from Dive Pros as I did. I also rented a stage bottle with 50% oxygen so that I could wash out a little on ascent. Of course, this isn’t a requirement for diving the wreck—it just adds a margin of safety and means I don’t have as much nitrogen to off gas.
Wear a wetsuit that will keep you warm. Bring a good dive light—it’s deep, it will be darker.
Finally, I strongly suggest you look at pictures of the ship as it appeared before it was sunk. This will give you an idea of what you’re looking at when you’re underwater. Without this orientation it can be hard for your mind to wrap itself about the rust and growth that smudge details into obscurity.
What to expect on your dive
Firstly, don’t expect to see the entirety of the ship when you drop on the mooring buoy. Recall that it’s 888 feet in length. Even a 300-foot-long ship is hard to see in full. Add a little particulate to that and you might not even see the flight deck below.
Still, it’s a really nice dive. I spent a lot of time circling the tower to investigate the nooks and crannies, swim throughs and very bright colonial golden zoanthids which dotted the outside of the Oriskany like daisies.
If you have a camera and a dive buddy, give them some suggestions for how (and where) to pose before you drop. Places on the wreck I think are great for a shot include the wall-like side of the tower covered with zoanthids, the stack at the very top of the tower, the long vertical swim through that cuts through the middle of the tower, and the primary flight control center.
In fact, the primary flight control center is a popular place for most recreational divers to spend a bit of time as they can penetrate it but still have easy, clear access to the outside. It’s also a great place to get a photo of someone looking out from within.
Prepare for the possibility of reduced visibility in the dark, somewhat green waters of the emerald coast. A camera with a dive light is a plus in this case, as surprisingly, is a macro camera. There really is a ton of life on the wreck so don’t think you have to just focus on the big stuff.
The Insta360 x4 didn’t perform that well on this dive due to reduced low light performance. If you don’t own a camera, use an action camera that does perform well at depth, or take a couple of good video lights down with you.
After the dive
If you’re diving with Niuhi Dive Charters and Captain Andy Ross, expect pineapple when you’re back on the boat. That and a cold drink, perhaps even a few snacks. And, if you’re smart, you’ll bring a boat coat too. Florida is warm but after a few dives, a bit of extra neoprene or fleece makes a big difference.
Perhaps, like me, you’ll be lucky enough to have Brady Hale on the boat as I was. He was a great guide and a ton of fun.
I rented my dive gear from Dive Pros and was helped out by co-owner Kerry Freeland, who encouraged me to take a larger tank and who got me set up with a stage bottle.
Though I only did a couple of dives on USS Oriskany, I can safely say that it held enough interest for me to want to return. If you’re keen to get a taste of what makes wreck diving so alluring—history, mystery and a bit of adrenaline—look no further.
