Cristobal Colon
Depth is the range from the top of the site to its usual maximum; "recommended cert" is the mainstream-agency level operators usually ask for, not a legal rule. Currents and visibility change daily — treat everything here as planning ranges.
Bermuda's biggest shipwreck is less a hull than a debris field the size of a village. The Cristóbal Colón, a Spanish transatlantic liner, ran hard onto the northern barrier reef in 1936, and wartime target practice plus eighty years of storms have spread her boilers, propellers, and hull plates across a broad reach of coral heads and sand gullies in mostly shallow water. Divers navigate from set piece to set piece, each colonized into reef, with parrotfish and barracuda supervising. One dive samples her; a second, on the far side of the field, still shows you new machinery.
The moment you come for: Vast scattered liner wreckage, shallow bright conditions, machinery turned reef
Topography: Coral heads and sand gullies across the northern barrier reef
Entry: A long boat run across the lagoon to the northern barrier reef; dived in settled weather.
Know before you splash
Hazards: Breaking seas over the barrier reef in swell; sharp plating in the shallows.
Conservation: Bermuda's historic wrecks are legally protected; artifacts stay where they lie.
Who you'll meet
Great Barracuda
Green Sea Turtle
Lionfish
Porcupinefish
For photographers
Wide angle: ★★★★☆ · Macro: ★★☆☆☆ — editors' 1–5 rating of what this site gives each style of shooting