Rio de Janeiro – Wreck Diving in the Marvellous City

About Rio de Janeiro – City Wrecks & Offshore

Rio de Janeiro offers an extraordinary wreck diving scene within sight of its iconic landmarks, combining Brazil's most famous city with a remarkable collection of sunken vessels and offshore pinnacles. The star attraction is the Naufrágio do Dardo, an 83-metre Brazilian Navy frigate scuttled in 1994 lying upright at 18-30 metres with huge resident barracuda and penetrable sections making it one of South America's finest wreck dives. Additional wrecks including the Harald tanker and Pinguino small ship create a diverse wreck diving circuit accessible from Rio's marinas. Offshore, Ilha Redonda offers pinnacles with schooling jacks and trevally, while the rocky islets of Pai and Mãe near Barra da Tijuca attract turtles, rays, and schooling fish. Guanabara Bay provides silty macro diving with seahorses and pipefish for the ecologically curious. The combination of world-class wreck diving, iconic city scenery, and Brazil's most vibrant cultural scene makes Rio an unmatched diving destination.

Highlights

• ✓Naufrágio do Dardo – 83m frigate wreck, one of South America's best
• ✓Multiple accessible wrecks at various depths
• ✓Offshore pinnacles with schooling pelagics
• ✓Iconic Rio de Janeiro city backdrop
• ✓Guanabara Bay macro diving with seahorses
• ✓Combination of diving and cultural tourism

Getting There

Fly to Rio de Janeiro's Galeão International Airport (GIG) or Santos Dumont (SDU). Rio is Brazil's second-largest city with extensive domestic and international flight connections. Dive operators are based in the marina areas of Barra da Tijuca and Botafogo.