Beneath the crystal blue waters of Fathom Five National Marine Park lie over 20 ghostly shipwrecks, a haunting underwater museum for adventurous scuba divers to explore. Plunging into the depths, the eerie hulls of once-mighty schooners and steamers emerge from the shadows. The Sweepstakes, wrecked in 1885, rests in just 20 feet of water - her weathered timbers and rusted hardware now a skeletal shell reclaimed by the lake.
But to truly appreciate the park's submerged secrets, take a boat out to the islands and deeper wrecks like the Arabia and Forest City. Here, 100 feet down, is an otherworldly realm of swaying green plants and darting fish flitting through the skeletons of the past. Properly trained divers can penetrate the silent, flooded cabins and cargo holds, perhaps imagining the frantic final moments as surging water sealed the sailors' fates. Fathom Five's sunken fleet is a bucket-list destination for wreck divers, each ship a poignant memorial and a chance to touch history in the profound stillness beneath the waves.