Spiegel Grove: The Must-Dive Wreck of the Florida Keys

Blog post picture above: Photo credit W. Poelzer

When in Key Largo…

When scuba diving in the Florida Keys and exploring your options for wreck dives at local dive shops in the Key Largo area, you will quickly stumble upon the name “Spiegel” – short for USS Spiegel Grove. Treasured by the local dive community, the Spiegel Grove truly has risen to become our “flagship” dive here in the Upper Keys!

Diving the Spiegel Grove when in Key Largo has almost, if not fully, become a “must-do” among wreck dive enthusiasts and recreational divers alike. Technical and rebreather divers appreciate the wreck for its vastness and opportunities for exploration.

The Spiegel really is quite something. The ship measures an impressive 510 feet (160 m) in length and 84 feet (26 m) across at its widest point. Today, it lies at close to 140 feet at its deepest point on the ocean floor, while the superstructures reach up to about 60 feet of depth. When descending on your dive to the Spiegel Grove, it is quite a breathtaking moment when it all of a sudden makes its appearance as a massive dark structure underneath! Long story short, she is mighty!

The sinking of the USS Spiegel Grove

The USS Spiegel Grove was originally a warfare Landing Ship Dock (LSD 32) transporting and launching landing craft and amphibious vehicles. Having been sunk off the coast of Key Largo in 2002 to create an artificial reef makes it the youngest addition to several sunken shipwrecks in the Upper Keys and the second youngest in the entire Florida Keys.

“In fact, at the time of its sinking, the Spiegel Grove was the largest ship ever intentionally sunk to create a new reef for divers, and it remains one of the largest ships ever scuttled for that purpose.” [source: fla-keys.com]

The sinking of the Spiegel Grove was a $1 million project and was a very interesting affair indeed. The ship was finally moved from Virginia to Key Largo in May 2002 for the planned sinking of the vessel. During the sinking process, though the Spiegel Grove had a mind of its own and rolled over to one side until resting upside down with its bow pointing out of the water and the stern sitting on the ocean floor. However, this precarious situation was quickly resolved shortly thereafter, and the ship was then rolled over to one side. With “Spiegel” now securely resting on its starboard side, it was finally opened for recreational dives in June that very same year.

The Spiegel Grove lay on its side only until July 2005, when Hurricane Dennis came along. With up to hurricane category 4 strength winds stirring up the ocean immensely and shifting sand on the ocean floor, Dennis created a force large enough to move this 9,000-ton displacement ship and put it right-side-up! Imagine the surprise when the first divers descended on their dives after the hurricane and found it sitting upright!

Diver Bob Snyder was the first person to view the wreck of the Spiegel Grove after Hurricane Dennis skirted the Keys in July 2005. Three years earlier, the Key Largo community had rallied to sink the 510-foot retired Navy ship as the backbone of a new reef ecosystem six miles offshore.

When Snyder got close enough to see the ship, he couldn’t believe his eyes. The storm had turned the 510-foot ship upright from its previous position on its starboard side in 130 feet of water.

“I had to ask myself, ‘Am I narcked?’” Snyder would later tell a local newspaper reporter, referring to the nitrogen imbalance that can sometimes make divers giddy.

[source: fla-keys.com]

The wreck, since then, has maintained its position. Most of the openings have been widened and secured with lines so that advanced divers can easily do a variety of exciting swim-throughs with daylight. For “pros”, the wreck offers lots of additional possibilities.

Not only is the Spiegel Grove a magnificent wreck to dive on, but divers will also find that it has become exactly what it was intended to be: an artificial reef and a backbone to the coral reef structure of the third-largest barrier reef in the world. Today, you can see it covered in beautiful coral, providing a home to countless ocean creatures!

Diving the Spiegel Grove & the Florida Keys Wreck Trek

Dives on the Spiegel Grove are available almost daily, with some two-tank dive trips offering you a visit to the deep wreck on the first dive and a shallow reef site for the second dive, and others allowing you to double-dip and explore the ship at two different spots.

Dives on the Spiegel Grove are deep dives, and advanced-level certification is required to do these dives. Also, your last deep-dive experience should not be longer ago than one year. Divers 15 years and older who are not advanced-level certified yet, but current in diving, can also enjoy diving the Spiegel Grove, but must have an instructor with them. As on all deep dives in the Florida Keys, dive computers are mandatory for each diver to have on Spiegel Grove dives.

Regardless of our certification level and dive experience, we do recommend taking a dive guide to explore the wreck. Local dive guides can give you the best tours on and around the wreck, really, and can even show you very easy swim-throughs which you might otherwise miss out on!

Ask us for dive options on the Spiegel Grove and other shipwrecks in the Florida Keys, and make sure to also check out our Florida Keys & Key West Wreck Trek program!