In Crash Dive for the Atari 2600, you control the Sea Hunter, a flying submarine that is equipped with a missile launcher. Moving from left to right, you can fly above sea level, cruise underwater or touch down on the bottom of the sea.
Planes, helicopters and birds will attack your vessel while you are in the air. Boats, stingrays, sharks, anglerfish, squid, lobsters and sea monsters are the dangerous denizens of the deep. Your mission is to score as many points as possible by destroying these creatures and vehicles before you run out of fuel, get hit by a missile or run into a mine. You can refuel by docking with the mother ship (the Sea View), and you can score extra points by picking up treasures (such as swords, wine bottles and gold) that lie on the bottom of the sea.
You can play Crash Dive with creatures appearing in random or set order and can select from controllable or non-controllable missiles. You begin the game with three flying submarines in reserve. If you fill the prize indicator at the bottom of the screen with six treasures, you receive an extra life.