Bianca C

They call her the 'Titanic of the Caribbean' for her size, but the Bianca C's story is really about Grenada's boatmen. Laid down in occupied France during the war and completed in 1949, the 180-meter liner was working Costa Line's Italy–Venezuela run when, anchored off St George's on 22 October 1961, a boiler exploded and fire took hold. Nearly everything that floated in the harbor — fishing boats, yachts, launches — put out to the burning ship, and close to 700 passengers and crew were brought ashore; Grenadians housed and fed them for days, a rescue the island still commemorates with the Christ of the Deep statue on the Carenage. The gutted liner burned for two days before HMS Londonderry took her under tow, hoping to beach her clear of the anchorage; she sank en route, settling upright on sand near Whibble Reef. Now the Caribbean's largest diveable shipwreck, she is a deep, current-brushed drift over a slowly folding giant — the swimming pool on the lido deck remains the famous photo stop — circled by barracuda, rays and passing reef sharks.

How she sank: Boiler-room explosion and fire at anchor off St George's, 22 October 1961; sank under tow two days later.

Condition: Deteriorating — decks pancaking amidships and the bow section increasingly broken, though the pool and stern remain recognizable

Penetration: None. Sixty years of fire damage and collapse have left the interior unstable; reputable operators keep all divers outside the hull.

Recommended certification: Advanced Open Water with deep experience; technical training to see her fully

Current: Moderate · Visibility: 10–25 m

Marine life: Spotted eagle rays and barracuda work the hull, blacktip and Caribbean reef sharks pass in the blue, and the steel carries black coral, sponges and dense baitfish.

Hazards: Depth, current, unstable structure and short no-decompression windows