Best of 2000: Best Shipwreck

The Monte Carlo, off southern end of Coronado Shores

Okay, she's not Titanic. But you don't have to dive three miles down to find her either. The concrete-hulled Monte Carlo was one of the gambling ships that anchored off California during the 1930s. A convenient three miles beyond Point Loma, her lights glittered the temptations of duty-free liquor and gambling heaven, loose women and rentable cabins to every red-blooded San Diegan who walked the Embarcadero, just a 20-minute launch ride away. But by the night of December 31, 1936, the Good Lord had had enough. A storm rolled in. The Monte Carlo's anchors lost their grip, and the vessel of sin drifted onto Coronado's beach. Next day kids dived for the silver dollars stuck below in the slot machines. They missed most.

She still sits right below the southernmost condo of Coronado Shores, near the Hotel Del. Wait for a full moon, at low tide. Winter's best when sands are low. Thar she'll be, her full 300 feet sticking out of the water, hiding her money and your grandpa's secrets.