Showing 13–24 of 30
Massachusetts · 3–9.1 m
Back Beach in downtown Rockport is the region's quintessential training and night-dive site: metered parking beside the sand, a rock-free walk-in entry, and a forgiving 10-30 ft bottom. By day it hosts a steady parade of open-water classes; by night divers come for sea ravens, flounder, skates and the squid that swarm dive lights in season. Visibility is typical New England — 20+ ft on a good day, under 10 ft after a blow.
Massachusetts · Up to 7 m
A dive site in United States. The site reaches a maximum depth of about 7 m. The site is reached by boat. Rated beginner based on available data.
Massachusetts · 3–10.7 m
Canoe Beach is one of the North Shore's most popular shore dives: a pebble beach at the head of a small cove on Nahant's east side, next to Northeastern University's Marine Science Center. The bottom slopes gently to about 30-35 ft, and in the middle of the cove a series of rock pinnacles - the 'chimneys' - rises from the bottom to break the surface at low tide, with a famous swim-through that divers enter from the side and exit out the top. Visibility is variable, best after calm westerly winds. Parking is the main obstacle, as the lot is restricted to Nahant residents.
Massachusetts · Up to 30.5 m
Heroic, a 97-ft wooden-hulled former U.S. Navy coastal minesweeper (USS Heroic, AMc-84) converted to a Gloucester eastern-rig dragger, caught fire and sank on 21 August 1969 atop Stellwagen Bank. The wreck rests in about 100 feet of water with its large Atlas diesel engine surrounded by hull sections, trawl winch, and anchor chain, much of it draped in old nets. It is an official NOAA-listed sanctuary dive site with a subsurface mooring installed in partnership with Northern Atlantic Dive Expeditions.
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.
Massachusetts · Up to 32 m
The Josephine Marie, an 80-ft steel-hulled stern trawler built in 1969, sank on 1 February 1992 while fishing Massachusetts Bay. The red-and-black-hulled wreck lies upside down in 105 feet of water on the southern end of Stellwagen Bank with its bow facing roughly southeast; the exposed propellers are a favorite photo spot. An official NOAA sanctuary dive site, it carries swift currents and draped fishing gear, so dives are timed to slack water.
Massachusetts · 1.5–15.5 m
Little Pond in Plymouth's Morton Park is a sheltered freshwater kettle pond used by local divers as an easy training and gear-shakeout site, especially when the ocean is rough. Average depth is about 19 ft with a maximum around 51 ft, over a very silty bottom with vegetation, rocks, and sunken logs that shelter freshwater fish. The pond is a coldwater pond stocked regularly with rainbow trout. Best dived off-season, since the town beach draws crowds and parking fees after Memorial Day.
Massachusetts · 1.5–17.4 m
Hathaway's Pond is a 20-acre freshwater kettle pond in Barnstable considered one of the best training sites in New England, with a maximum depth of about 57 ft. Attractions include a wooden training platform at roughly 20 ft about 70 ft off the swim beach, a 35-ft cabin cruiser (the Field & Sea, sunk in 1979) at about 30 ft, and a sunken car. With no current and easy beach entry it hosts certification classes year-round and serves as the standard fallback when Cape Cod ocean sites are blown out. The pond is stocked with trout and also holds bass, perch, sunfish, and catfish.
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.
Massachusetts · 3–7.6 m
Niles Beach sits inside Gloucester Harbor on Eastern Point, giving it some of the most protected water on Cape Ann. The gradually sloping sandy bottom only reaches about 15-25 ft, so it serves mainly as a training venue and a reliable backup when ocean-facing sites are blown out. Summer parking requires a Gloucester resident beach sticker, though walk-on access is open to all.
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.