Diving & Travel Guide to Bikini Atoll

About Bikini Atoll

Bikini Atoll is the most famous technical wreck-diving destination on Earth, where in July 1946 Operation Crossroads sank an entire fleet of captured and surplus warships with two atomic bombs and conventional demolition. Today more than a dozen intact vessels lie in 30 to 55 m of clear, warm water, forming an underwater museum of superlatives. The 270 m aircraft carrier USS Saratoga sits upright with its flight deck and hangar aircraft still visible, while the Japanese battleship Nagato lies upside-down, Admiral Yamamoto's former flagship from the Pearl Harbor attack. Battleships, destroyers, submarines and the near-intact amphibious transport Gilliam complete the fleet, all draped in coral and patrolled by giant groupers, dogtooth tuna and grey reef sharks. Access is by expedition liveaboard only, requires technical decompression training and extensive logistics, but rewards divers with a world-iconic, once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Highlights

• ✓USS Saratoga: a 270 m aircraft carrier upright in 30 to 50 m with intact flight deck, bomb-elevator shafts and Helldiver aircraft in the hangar.
• ✓HIJMS Nagato: Admiral Yamamoto's 222 m Japanese battleship upside-down in 30 to 50 m with enormous propellers and 16-inch guns.
• ✓USS Arkansas: a 171 m battleship capsized at 45 to 55 m with dense soft-coral growth and resident grey reef sharks.
• ✓Submarine fleet: USS Apogon and USS Pilotfish resting upright at 50 m, an extreme deep-technical challenge.

Getting There

Bikini Atoll is reached only by expedition liveaboard from Majuro, a multi-day ocean crossing of roughly 850 km. Divers stage from Majuro with a pre-expedition briefing and gear check, then live aboard for the duration of the trip. No independent tourism exists on Bikini itself.