The sport, recreation and passion that is scuba diving is practiced in all the oceans of the world, in lakes, rivers and streams, in caves and caverns and even in murky quarries. Scuba divers explore neon hued coral reefs, they swim through towering kelp forests, hover alongside plunging vertical walls and dive the frigid waters of Antarctica. There is an endless variety of diving environments, each with its own ambiance and unique marine life and there are also a handful of dive sites that can only be described as novelties, oddities and downright bizarre.
Valhalla Missile Silo
During the Cold War of the 1960s, the missile silo in Midland, Texas that is now known as Dive Valhalla, housed an 85 foot Atlas missile that was armed with a nuclear warhead. The facility was decommissioned just two years after completion and was allowed to fill with groundwater. The 60 foot wide steel and concrete cylinder is 127 feet deep, its 2 million gallons of water is crystal clear and it is the largest deep water training pool in the world.
Banua Wuhu Volcano
The Banua Wuhu Volcano in Indonesian waters rises from the seafloor at over 1200 feet and reaches to within 20 feet of the surface. Sulfur coated rocks expel bursts of gas bubbles creating an atmosphere of swimming in a gigantic champagne glass. The water temperature around the holes can reach 100 degrees and the formations are lushly adorned with more species of coral and fish than anywhere else in the world.
Underwater Cemetery
Three and a half miles off the Miami, Florida shore, lies the first of its kind underwater cemetery. It is a very appropriate final resting spot for those who loved the sea and it is the largest artificial reef in the world. The cemetery lies at 50 feet and visiting scuba divers will pass through gates and swim down pathways replete with benches, statues and plagues. Eagle rays cruise the water and there is a kaleidoscope of schooling fish.
Dive Between Two Continents
Perhaps the most unique dive site on the planet is the Sifra Fault in Iceland. Silfra Is a crack in the earth where two continents meet at the joint of the Eurasian and American tectonic plates. A drift dive down canyon is like no other on the globe with the greatest visibility of any ocean at an amazing 300 feet. The water’s cold, but with a proper exposure suit, this dive of a lifetime is a space trip on earth.
Divers will not soon give up their coral reefs, but wherever there is water, diving opportunities abound and sometimes seeking out the novel, the unique and the bizarre can greatly compliment your diving experiences.
Sources:
http://aquaviews.net/scuba-dive-destinations/deep-diving-in-a-nuclear-missile-silo-in-texas/
http://www.dive.is/Diving_Iceland.php?page=Diving%20Silfra
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/travel/2004408364_webreef12.html