The coastal state of North Carolina is perhaps best known as a wreck diving hotspot, with its coastal region possessing a huge assortment of wrecks in a swath of ocean known as the the "Graveyard of the Atlantic". Many of the wrecks here are WW2 casualties sunk during the Battle of the Atlantic, including three German U-boats accessible to divers. Closer to shore, the Outer Banks barrier islands boast a large number of rarely visited and poorly documented shoreline wrecks, some of which are historically significant. Further inland in the central Piedmont region there is an assortment of lakes and quarries used primarily by locals for recreation and training. The western portion of the state is dominated by the Appalachian Mountains and has virtually no dive sites.