Sunken Treasure
What the ocean took, it doesn't always keep.
About Sunken Treasure
Sunken treasure hunting is diving with a purpose — shipwrecks, lost cargo, and centuries of things the ocean floor never gave back. It's not a deep-sea operation requiring a research vessel or a six-figure budget. A huge share of what's findable sits in water reachable with a snorkel, or at most a basic Open Water certification and a rental tank.
Storm-driven wrecks are some of the most productive sites, since hurricanes and nor'easters have been sinking coastal shipping for as long as ships have sailed these waters — a single major storm could scatter an entire fleet's cargo across a few miles of shallow reef. Colonial-era and 18th–19th century wrecks tend to yield ballast stone piles, ceramic shards, ship fittings, and occasionally coinage, while more recent 20th-century wrecks are often better preserved and easier to permit-dive legally.
This page is built for the casual, weekend diver — whether you're already certified or just starting to look into it — with essential safety protocols, legal requirements, and how to actually connect with people who do this seriously.
Don’t want to start from zero? Decades of archival research on Florida’s 1715 and 1733 Spanish treasure fleets has already been done — by historians, courts, and the companies holding the actual search rights. Some of them take on subcontractors and split what’s found. You don’t have to be the one digging through 300-year-old shipping manifests in Seville to get in the water. Read how sub-leasing actually works →
Shipwreck Locations- Working database of known wrecks and the historical record behind each one. A great starting point for research · Wrecksite.eu · NOAA ENC Direct to GIS (official chart data)
Diving Safety - Buddy protocols, entanglement risk around wreck structures, and depth limits appropriate to your certification level.
Historical Research - Ship manifests, maritime insurance records (Lloyd’s of London historically insured much of the shipping lost to storms), and newspaper archives that point to real, documented losses.
Marine Laws- Permits, salvage law, and the legal distinction between abandoned wreck sites and protected historical/archaeological sites — laws vary significantly by state and by whether a wreck is in state or federal waters.
Communities and Clubs
Historical Diving Society
Maritime Archaeology Trust
Bradley Williamson / Scuba Wize — A real, TV-credentialed treasure hunter (Expedition Unknown, The UnXplained) with 25+ years diving actual 1715/1733 Fleet wrecks, who runs in-person Sunken Treasure Workshops in the Florida Keys through Scuba Wize.
Videos & Seminars
Videos (evergreen, for self-paced learning):
Bradley Williamson’s YouTube channel — real footage of actual finds, including raw vs. cleaned artifacts.
Expedition Unknown (Discovery Channel, Josh Gates) — episodes covering the 1715 Fleet, pirate Jean Lafitte, and privateer Amaro Pargo’s treasure.
The UnXplained (History Channel, William Shatner) — covers sunken treasure topics.
Caribbean Pirate Treasure (Travel Channel, Philippe & Ashlan Cousteau).
Documentaries on Mel Fisher’s discovery of the Atocha.
Seminars & Live Events:
For current dates, check directly with the 1715 Fleet Society — their conference schedule changes and shouldn’t be listed with a static date here.
Bradley Williamson / Scuba Wize also runs periodic in-person Sunken Treasure Workshops in the Florida Keys — check their current booking page directly for dates.
Forum Discussion- Compare notes with people who have actually pulled something up
Do It Yourself- Budget gear and beginner-friendly, shallow-water sites for your first dive.
Underwater Drones- Fueling the Search for Sunken Vessels
Get certified before you attempt anything underwater — this isn’t optional, and most reputable dive shops won’t rent gear without proof.
Get started with PADI, SSI, NAUI, or SDI — the primary scuba certification agencies.
•Research local laws and permits before salvaging anything — many states require a state-issued permit even for shallow, non-archaeological sites.
•Invest in real equipment — a decent pulse induction detector and proper dive gear pay for themselves in one good find.
•Join a local dive club — most productive site knowledge comes from people who’ve dived the area for years, not from public forums alone.
•Always dive with a buddy. Always.
•Document what you find, and report significant or historically notable discoveries to state maritime archaeology offices.
