Dive site
USS Saratoga (CV-3)
Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands
- Typical depth
- 50 m
- Type
- Wreck
- Level
- Technical
Notes
Lexington-class aircraft carrier sunk in the 1946 Operation Crossroads Baker atomic test. Flight deck at ~50 m, hull to ~55 m.
Marine life
- Other
- aircraft remains in the hangar deck — Helldivers, Avengers
- Corals
- hard coral colonising the flight deck and superstructure
- Sharks
- grey reef shark, silvertip
- Pelagics
- tuna, jacks
- Reef fish
- snapper, grouper
Wreck
- Vessel
- USS Saratoga (CV-3)
- Class
- Lexington-class aircraft carrier
- Origin
- United States
- Sunk
- 1946 — sunk by underwater atomic test (Operation Crossroads, Test Baker), 25 Jul 1946
- Length
- 271 m
- Penetration
- Possible — with training
Site features
- Wreck
- Deep Wreck
- Trimix
- CCR Recommended
- Penetration
- Liveaboard Only
- Historic
- Permit Required
- Aircraft Carrier
- Overhead Environment
When to dive
- Best
- Mar–Nov
- Avoid
- Dec–Feb
Bikini operates as a liveaboard-only destination on a chartered season. Lagoon is sheltered, so weather is rarely the constraint — logistics, charter availability, and Marshall-Islands government access permits are.
Conditions & access
- Visibility
- 20–30 m
- Water temp
- 28–30 °C
- Current
- Mild
- Access
- Liveaboard only
- Min cert
- Trimix or CCR. Flight deck sits at ~50 m and the hangar deck at ~30 m, but the dives are typically run as multi-stage tec profiles to make the most of bottom time on aircraft and the bridge.
Location
11.5833° N, 165.5167° E
Dive clubs that visit this site
2 operators list this site on their website
- Indies Trader (Indies Surveyor)Majuro / Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands · Liveaboard[source]
- Master LiveaboardsRed Sea, Egypt · Liveaboard[source]
Sources
Curated from 2 sources
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