Bikini Atoll

Bikini Atoll is a remote Marshall Islands lagoon holding the 'ghost fleet' of warships sunk by the 1946 Operation Crossroads nuclear tests (including the only divable aircraft carrier on Earth, USS Saratoga) and ranks among the world's premier deep technical wreck dives, now also a thriving shark sanctuary.

Destination info

Conditions, highlights, and the resident marine life.

Conditions

Water and air temperature across the year.

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Description

Bikini Atoll sits at the far northern edge of the Marshall Islands, its lagoon the resting place of the Operation Crossroads ghost fleet: warships the United States sank in July 1946 to study atomic blasts on naval vessels. The signature dive is USS Saratoga (CV-3), at roughly 270 m and 43,000 tons full-load one of the largest divable wrecks anywhere and the only divable aircraft carrier on the planet, upright with its bridge near 18 m and Helldiver aircraft, bombs and torpedoes still aboard. Alongside her lie the Japanese flagship HIJMS Nagato (capsized at ~52 m, the battleship from which the Pearl Harbor attack was commanded), the dreadnought USS Arkansas (~54 m, nearly upside down), the destroyers Lamson and Anderson, and the submarines Apogon and Pilotfish. With most decks below 27 m, average depths near 50 m and bottom times exceeding 100 minutes including decompression, Bikini is strictly technical diving: trimix and CCR territory. Access is by expedition liveaboard only, a 24–30-hour crossing from Kwajalein, and trips have always been intermittent: residual radiation is negligible to divers (the lagoon and its fish are safe; only eating land-grown produce poses a dose), but logistics, costs and licensing have repeatedly opened and closed the fleet to visitors.

Highlights

What makes this dive worth the trip.

USS Saratoga (CV-3) is the only divable aircraft carrier in the world, roughly 270 m long and around 43,000 tons at full load, sitting upright in the lagoon with her bridge accessible near 18 m, the flight/main deck around 27 m and the sand at about 51 m; Helldiver aircraft, 227 kg bombs and air-dropped torpedoes are still aboard.
The lagoon holds the 'ghost fleet' of Operation Crossroads (warships including USS Saratoga, the Japanese battleship HIJMS Nagato, USS Arkansas, destroyers Lamson and Anderson, and the submarines Apogon and Pilotfish) sunk by two 1946 atomic tests (the airburst Able and the underwater Baker), most resting between about 48 m and 55 m.
Bikini is strictly a technical-diving destination: operators require PADI Tec 50 or equivalent (TDI Advanced Nitrox & Deco Procedures, IANTD/NAUI/ANDI tech nitrox) with around 100 logged dives and wreck experience, with average dive depths near 50 m and bottom times often over 100 minutes including decompression; CCR divers need normoxic trimix certification.

Marine life

20 species you’re likely to encounter on a dive here.

Dive sites

6 signature sites at this destination.

USS Apogon

A Balao-class submarine that earned five battle stars in World War II, sitting perfectly upright on the lagoon floor with its conning tower around 44 m and the hull near 50 m, looking almost ready to sail. The intact deck gun is encrusted in coral and the wreck is often wrapped in shimmering clouds of glassfish. Its compact, photogenic form makes it a favourite second dive, though the depth still demands full technical certification and decompression planning.

44–50 madvancedLiveaboardLight20–40 m

USS Saratoga

The signature dive of Bikini and the only divable aircraft carrier in the world, sitting upright on the lagoon floor. At roughly 270 m long and about 43,000 tons full load she is among the largest divable wrecks anywhere; the bridge is reachable near 18 m, the flight and main decks run around 27 m, and the hull meets sand near 51 m. Helldiver aircraft, 227 kg bombs and air-dropped torpedoes remain in place, and penetration reveals the wheelhouse, sick bay with operating and dental chairs, galleys and accommodation across seven deck levels. Very fine silt makes interior dives a CCR-recommended technical undertaking.

18–51 madvancedLiveaboardLight20–40 m

HIJMS Nagato

The Japanese battleship from which the order to attack Pearl Harbor was relayed, now lying capsized in about 52 m of water. Divers descend over the upturned hull and its four enormous bronze propellers, which sit around 33 m and are often likened to an underwater Stonehenge. The wreck initially survived the Baker test before listing and rolling over days later. Penetration into the bridge and superstructure is possible but is a serious overhead technical dive given the depth, the upside-down orientation and the decompression commitment.

33–52 madvancedLiveaboardLight20–40 m

USS Arkansas

A First-World-War-era dreadnought battleship that survived two world wars before being sunk by the underwater Baker test, now resting nearly upside down on the sandy bottom at around 54 m, the deepest of the major Bikini wrecks. Her 12-inch main guns and armoured hull dominate the dive. With the deck inverted and the bottom near 55 m, this is a short-bottom-time trimix dive reserved for the most experienced technical divers and is typically run as a single deep objective per day.

26–55 madvancedLiveaboardLight20–40 m

USS Lamson

A Mahan-class destroyer sunk by the airburst Able test, sitting largely upright near the reef with intact guns, torpedoes and bombs still in place; the deck lies around 36 m and the hull reaches toward 51–55 m. The relatively shallow superstructure makes it one of the more accessible Bikini wrecks within the technical range, and the preserved armament gives a vivid sense of a warship caught mid-service. Marine life congregates around the upright hull.

36–51 madvancedLiveaboardLight20–40 m

Shark Pass

A deep gap in the reef on the atoll's western/southwest corner where tidal flow funnels between islets and concentrates marine life. After decades of no fishing and the 2011 nationwide shark sanctuary, it hosts one of the largest reef-shark aggregations on Earth, historically a hundred or more grey reef sharks on a single dive, joined by silvertip, silky and occasional oceanic whitetip and hammerhead sharks. Tides and currents run hard here, so it is dived on the right tidal window; unlike the deep wrecks this is a comparatively shallow reef dive built around the shark action.

10–30 madvancedLiveaboardStrong20–40 m

Where to dive & stay

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