The Eagle Shipwreck 75-110ft

The Eagle is one of the Florida Keys' most celebrated and dramatically beautiful shipwrecks — a 269-foot freighter that was deliberately sunk in 1985 in the waters off Islamorada at depths ranging from 75 to 110 feet. Over its four decades on the seafloor, the Eagle has been so thoroughly colonized by corals and marine life that it now ranks among the most productive artificial reef environments in the entire Keys, and the wreck's story gained additional layers when Hurricane Georges split the vessel in 1998, creating two main sections that now lie in a jumbled, organic arrangement on the sandy bottom. The sheer size and complexity of the wreck make every dive a fresh exploration — there are always new corridors, new overhangs, and new configurations of coral and fish to discover. The hull sections are carpeted with orange tube sponge clusters, purple fan corals, and dense patches of encrusting gorgonians that wave in the gentle current. Schools of glassy sweepers pack the darkened interior spaces in shimmering hundreds, parting like liquid mercury as a diver's light sweeps through them. Large black grouper and goliath grouper preside over the most prominent structural features with the relaxed authority of fish that have claimed permanent territory. Moray eels — green morays reaching impressive lengths — occupy crevices throughout both hull sections. Barracuda hover in the water column above the wreck, and occasional pelagic visitors including reef sharks and eagle rays pass through the deeper sections. Hawksbill sea turtles are regular companions throughout the dive. The depth of the Eagle requires careful dive planning and is rated advanced — the deeper sections approach the limits of recreational diving at 110 feet, and the wreck's size makes it easy to exceed planned bottom time without proper discipline. Boat access is available from Islamorada operators. The Eagle represents everything compelling about Florida Keys wreck diving: historical character, extraordinary marine life, and an underwater landscape transformed by decades of natural succession into something genuinely magnificent.