Key West, Florida, United States

Olympus (Wreck)

Olympus is a deep ledge-and-wreck site on the outer reef tract about 30 nautical miles west of Key West, near the Marquesas Keys, dived primarily by Lower Keys liveaboards and longer-range day boats. The site is a wide ledge that drops from 18 metres to 36 metres with a debris field that includes the remains of an unidentified steel freighter, scattered hull plates, ribs and concretions, mixed with natural reef structure. Goliath grouper aggregations are reliable in summer along the ledge; large schools of grunts and snapper, queen angelfish, southern stingrays, hawksbill turtles, blacktip and Caribbean reef sharks are routine. Currents follow the Gulf Stream and visibility is reliably 18 to 30 metres. Distance from shore makes the site weather-dependent and most operators only run it as part of multi-day trips. Advanced certification, drift gear and good gas planning required because of depth and current.