USS Saratoga (CV-3)
Dive site
The USS Saratoga is the world's only diveable aircraft carrier — a 270-meter Lexington-class flattop lying upright in 52 meters with her flight deck at 16 meters. Sunk in the Baker underwater nuclear test on 25 July 1946, she settled largely intact and her massive structure has become one of the ocean's great artificial reefs. The flight deck still holds anti-aircraft gun mounts, and the hangar bay beneath reveals a cathedral space where enormous grouper, eagle rays, and grey reef sharks patrol corridors wide enough to fly aircraft through. Decades of coral encrustation and schooling fish make every dive here a different experience.
Conditions
Depth
16 to 52 m
Advanced depths
Current
Usually gentle
Can pick up on the edge
Visibility
20 to 35 m
Clearest in the calm season
Water
27 to 30°C
3mm wetsuit
Month by month
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water (°C) | 27 | 27 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 27 |
| Vis (m) | 20 | 22 | 25 | 25 | 22 | 20 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 20 | 20 |
| Current | Gentle | Gentle | calm | calm | calm | Gentle | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Gentle | Gentle | Gentle |
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