The backcountry getaway of Big Pine Key and the lower keys, known to kayakers for its lovely mangroves and fishermen for its amazing flats, lures scuba divers to a different type of escape. The preeminent must-dive wreck off Big Pine Key is the fully intact, 210-foot Adolphus Busch Sr., a former cargo freighter intentionally sunk in 1998. Only three dive shops visit the vessel, making for an uncrowded, serene experience.

The Looe Key Artificial Reef Association bought the ship and towed it from Haiti to Miami. There, she was cleaned, stripped of hatches and portholes, and renamed after the beer magnate who helped fund the project, Anheuser-Busch. She’s now sitting upright in the sand near Looe Key.

Start by dropping to the sand at 110 feet to encounter southern stingrays. Cruise to midships where lemon sharks circle. It’s a site so rich in big marine life that even the lone hammerhead shark is occasionally spotted.

If it’s summer, it’s silversides season. Clouds of thousands sweep across the wreck as the warm Gulf Stream flows closer to shore.

Then there are the cargo holds. Because Adolphus Busch was purpose-sunk, it’s safe for light penetration. Drop inside to meet two resident goliath grouper. Back along the ship’s hull, peer in through the portholes to meet green moray eels.

Take last looks while off-gassing near the wheelhouse. It’s here, as you fin amid massive schools of barracuda, horse-eye jacks and permits, dozens deep, that you’ll begin to appreciate that only in losing yourself in such a rich underwater habitat can you begin to find yourself.

If Key West is a big city, then Big Pine Key is the outback: rich in tropical hardwood hammocks and freshwater wetlands home to key deer and gators. Here, you’ll find a quiet lifestyle off the grid — literally. At night, this undeveloped stretch of the Keys yields a pitch-blackness ideal for stargazing.

Become a Florida Keys Wreck Trekker!

The Adolphus Busch is one of 12 wrecks in the Wreck Trek program.Click here for more details on how to dive them all.

Browse our list of dive operators below to book your next trip.