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Massachusetts, United States Dive Sites — Page 2

Showing 25–30 of 30

Continued from the Massachusetts, United States dive sites guide, which covers seasonality and planning details.

Map of Stage Fort Park

Stage Fort Park

Massachusetts · 3–4.6 m

Stage Fort Park on Gloucester Harbor offers two protected training beaches — sandy Half Moon Beach and rocky Cressy Beach — with easy walk-in entries and depths of only 10-15 ft. The best diving follows the rock slopes east of Cressy or south of Half Moon, where lobsters and crabs hide among the boulders. With restrooms, a snack bar in season and big paid parking lots, it is one of the most facility-rich (if shallowest) dive venues on Cape Ann.

Shore entry
Map of Town Neck Beach (Sandwich Town Beach)

Town Neck Beach (Sandwich Town Beach)

Massachusetts · 1.5–7.6 m

Sandwich Town Beach (Town Neck Beach) is the most popular shore dive on Cape Cod, a shallow Cape Cod Bay site with an unusual series of clay shelves and banks that lobsters burrow into, making it a favorite spot for new lobster divers. Depths run about 15-25 ft, with moon snails, crabs, sea robins, flounder, and tautog over the sand and clay. The site is diveable through the whole tide cycle but is easily blown out by north or east winds and offshore swells, which suspend the clay and create rough entries. A large paid lot sits just over the dunes from the water.

Shore entry
Map of Tug Mars Wreck

Tug Mars Wreck

Massachusetts · 29–38 m

The Mars, a 117-ft iron steam tug built in 1890 by J.H. Dialogue & Sons, sank on 13 September 1942 after the coastal tanker Bidwell sheared off her bow in a collision east of Manomet Point, Plymouth. She rests upright and largely intact on a hard clay bottom in 95-125 feet of water, with the pilothouse lying on the bottom off her starboard side. The site is a BUAR exempted wreck open to recreational divers without a permit.

AdvancedBoat entry
Map of USS New Hampshire Wreck

USS New Hampshire Wreck

Massachusetts · 7.6–10.7 m

The USS New Hampshire, a 196-ft wooden 74/76-gun ship-of-the-line laid down in 1819 at Portsmouth, caught fire and sank on 26-27 July 1922 off Graves Island, Manchester-by-the-Sea, while under tow to the breakers. The broken-up hull lies in 25-35 feet of water just off the east side of the island, with timbers, copper sheathing, and spikes (supplied by Paul Revere's foundry) emerging from the sand. It is an easy, historic shallow boat dive popular with North Shore charters.

Boat entry
Map of White Horse Beach (Flag Rock)

White Horse Beach (Flag Rock)

Massachusetts · 1.5–9.1 m

White Horse Beach in the Manomet section of Plymouth is a shallow Cape Cod Bay shore dive centered on Flag Rock, the landmark boulder at the north end of the beach that has carried a painted American flag since 1941. The rocky bottom around the rock holds lobsters and typical New England bay life in roughly 10-30 ft of water - about 35 ft is possible only on the highest tides - making it a good beginner or cobweb-shakeout dive. Average visibility runs around 16-20 ft. Summer parking is the main challenge, with resident restrictions near the beach.

Shore entry